Bob -- you're gonna busy with the brackets this summer too (check the last line).

http://www.miamiherald.com/588/story/43270.html

(h/t Cap Punishment; sorry if someone else posted this; I've missed a lot of the action the last couple of days)

(aside to Bob -- is Bill Salkeld the new Kirk Gibson or what?)

Since I have now been named on consecutive days in posts by the Griddle, I have decided to revise my goals in life. One of my new goals is to be named by Jon in a Dodger Thoughts post. But I am not sure how I am going to make that happen.

I'm increasing the mojo level today. As a result, I expect a complete 8 game sweep today.

I think we should have random game callbacks for Bob's youth basketball team.

I routinely wore adidas sneakers in Eugene. I think the most recent pair of Nikes I owned were those blue ones with the yellow swoosh, from the early-mid 80s.

Cleaning out my parents' old books today. A few fun morning finds:

Khalil Gibran (no relation to Khalil Greene)'s The Prophet (1959 ed) w/sappy inscription from my mom to my dad: "My favorite book, for my favorite person."

Also, the first ed. set of Winston Churchill's Second World War set, which has been sitting on my parents bookshelves my whole life and which I assumed were myDad's, turns out to have belonged to my mom before they met.

I may need to rethink my mom.

Other fun stuff: The Godfather w/note from my dad inside -- "Now THIS is literature!"; Family of Man book; catalog to 1966 Man Ray at LACMA; first ed. Confessions of Nat Turner.

(and a slew of horrid Rage of Angels type junk, lest you think my parents are cooler than they are/were)

OK, you may all return to your hoping-Texas-squashes-USC business.

2 - I've never mentioned you? I feel like I have, but maybe not.

6 - I don't think I have ever done anything that would merit a mention. But I am now looking for a way.

I'll be all over the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament.

I've reading about various strategies for it.

I like to use "The Bureaucrat"

http://tinyurl.com/hobdz

I need this poster:

http://tinyurl.com/yv2fy6

Those are the greatest names! Personally, I like "The Dénouement"

Also, I like Reaux Sham Beaux over Rock Paper Scissors. It just sounds more regal.

Describing the character of throwing paper:

"some players perceive Paper as a subtle attack, the victory of modern culture over barbarism. Such players may use Paper to assert their superiority and dignity."

That is just outstanding.

Michael Scott is easy to defeat because he always chooses paper.

I wondered if the RPS powers that be have ever considered adding a fourth item

Some of us are not rooting for Texas. Well, one of us.

If you added a fourth element to RPS, you would destroy its symmetry. Each element beats one other element and loses to the other.

Marty and I are climbing the ladder! We're tied for 78th. As is bhsportsguy and a few others.

16
I guess you're right. I guess they're stuck with 27 gambits.

I can't decide if the posters are funnier than the descriptions below them. They're all hilarious.

Oh yes, I will be buying one. It's down to two choices.

http://tinyurl.com/3buwft
http://tinyurl.com/2vuw4l

The voting public prefers rock:
Rock 41.9%
Scissors 32.5%
Paper 25.6%

20

That just shows how inherently lazy the voting public is. Rock is the only one where you don't have to move your hand.

Both Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis say that Winthrop will beat Oregon and they didn't think it would be particularly close.

And they're never wrong, are they?

Since the thread has "open" in the title and I put it up anyway, I ask questions for people who might have a bit more knowledge in the area of fixing things around the house.

One really isn't fixing something.
But I need to change the light bulbs the ceiling fixture in my kitchen, I don't think I can screw in a CFL because they're too big and I wouldn't be able to put the cover on. Or do they make those CFLs in different sizes now?

Question two:
My showerhead is shooting water out in a variety of directions. Some of it is pointed at me, but a lot of it goes off at weird angles. So I took off the showerhead and cleared out all the little rocks that built up. But I still have the problem, which leads me to believe that there are mineral deposits inside the shower head where I can't get at it. Is there a way to get those out with minimal effort or should I just go to the hardware store and buy a new showerhead?

Soaking your shower head in vinegar will get rid of the mineral deposits. That's what I do.

Or you can use vinegar and a toothbrush, which I just looked up online and NEVER thought of doing.

Man, I've wasted a lot of vinegar in my time. How dumb am I? Pretty dumb.

Changing shower heads can provide a refreshing new outlook on the universe, however.

I'm sure this was mentioned yesterday, but Taylor Rochestie lost that Washington State-Vandy game single-handedly yesterday. I've never seen one player fail so utterly in every single way and yet not seem to realize that maybe he needed to stop trying to control the game.

I mean, seriously, you're down 2 points with NO SHOT CLOCK and your BIG IDEA is to SHOOT A THREE WITH 18 SECONDS LEFT?!?!?!?!?!?!?! That was just a capper to one of the worst tournament performances I've ever seen. He was stripped, blocked, he threw the ball away, he took a series of incredibly stupid shots, he was ALWAYS IN POSSESSION of the ball and kept it away from the man who should have been holding it, Derrick Low. Egad. I feel like one should try not to single out student-athletes for blame -- after all, they are kids -- but it was just so bad, I can't help it. I'm still pretty upset about it.

And I don't even really care about Washington State.

Now I just need to remember to remove the plastic bag full of vinegar off my shower before I use it tomorrow.

Rochestie had played pretty well all year and usually Wazzu was pretty poised.

But I guess the pressure got to him.

Go for the new shower head. I just changed mine. It's like I have a different bathroom.

28

That's not how I had pictured doing that.

I know. I'm overreacting. But I kept thinking, "Surely this guy is going to realize that this isn't his night, correct? Soon he will stop shooting? Soon he will realize that he is not the fact the star of this team? Soon?"

Anyway, in the Tenn-UVA game I have chosen the team I am rooting for by uniforms. I'm fairly certain most of my brackets are in tatters, anyway. I like the orange.

A bracket is not like an orange! You don't eat the fruit and then throw away the peel!

30

That's what I'm trying to tell him!

Who throws away the peel? I eat 'em like apples.

32
If I could only tell you what I was going through while the Vandy-Wazzu overtimes were going on.

I was in a bizarre situation at work.

Did you guys see the old timey RPS player cards in the Think Three blog? They are awesome.

Yes, I'm reading every entry in the Rock Paper Scissors blog. No idea why.

34
I've got a big bottle of plain vinegar I could use. I think Greg Brock uses some fancy balsamic vinegar for his cleaning purposes.

A new shower head is like $12. Bob's a renter, so he could also deduct it from the next month's rent. Assuming his landlord is a decent human being.

38 - With a little olive oil, mustard seed, and some sauteed garlic, I'm sure it will work wonders.

39
I pay a lot less than other renters so I would just eat the cost and if I ever moved, I'd just take it with me.

41

Then go buy it. Why are you telling me about the type of vinegar in your home?

I have both white and balsamic vinegar in my home.

Meanwhile, it's time to fasten your seat belts in Columbus! The Vols lead the Cavs by two with 6 minutes left.

Columbus is in southern Ohio, right? I always forget.

Columbus is pretty much in the middle of Ohio. That's why it's the capital.

All I can ever remember is that Cleveland's at the top and Cincinnatti (which I can't spell) is at the bottom. And Oberlin is kind of near Cleveland, but is nearer to corn than to any city.

Cincinnati is in the SW. Cleveland is in the NE.

Oberlin is about halfway between Cleveland and Sandusky along the Lake Erie shore although Oberlin is inland.

I've really only driven around Ohio. I've never really seen anything in it. I went to a SABR convention in Cincinnati and rarely left the hotel except to go eat and to walk to GABP.

My younger brother goes to Oberlin. So I've seen the corn. And the Cleveland airport. And a murderously hot September afternoon.

Purdue - Florida is underway, by the way. Since my bracket is in tatters, I'm rooting for an upset here so that if the Ducks can squeak by Winthrop & Wisconsin (unlikely) they won't have to go through the embarassment of being beaten by 35 points in the Elite Eight.

Florida should just lose on general principles.

Once Florida loses, I don't really care who wins. Billy Donovan is a blight on humanity.

I'm sensing strong feelings on this subject.

When I was a young lad, my mom sat me down and told me about Adolph Rupp's cheating ways.

If we moved ahead in time, she would just use "Billy Donovan" in place of Rupp.

The Vols opt to foul the player on the court when up by 3.

I have red wine vinegar in my home. So there.

Amazing what making your free throws down the stretch can do for your chances of winning the game.

And with the Vols narrow win, Monterey Chris maintains his one point lead over Suffering Bruin.

Bruce Pearl may sweat a lot and be annoying, but he's pretty good coach.

I would have more confidence in Purdue maintaining its lead against Florida if I could name:
1) its coach
2) any player on the team

I had an English teacher in high school who had a Ph D from Purdue. He was the best teacher I ever had. I believe.

But does D4P get to see Oregon out in the Tar Heel state? Is Winthrop considered "local" for him?

Oregon-Winthrop underway. I wish I felt more confident about this game. Oregon is a very similar team to Notre Dame. In fact, I liked their chances better against Touchdown Jesus.

I just discovered within the past 5 minutes that it is possible to watch the games online, for free. It's kind of annoying, though, as the picture cuts out every 10 seconds or so.

What game is your CBS affiliate showing then? Are you stuck with the Androgynous Five vs Purdue?

Florida is my "local" team

My condolences.

So, is the picture cutting all the time out normal for the online viewing?

66
When I got it to work (on a Windows machine), it was pretty choppy.

My Mac refuses all entreaties to make the video work.

66 Try this:

http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~spotter/ncaa/ncaa.cgi?20070318

67 So my link didn't help you out with your Mac.

What a total bummer. We wuz lied too!

68
Great, thanks.

Now: can you fix my TV remote control? It has been acting up lately...

Now those links do even less than they did before. I used to get a white screen. Now I just get a new tab that opens with nothing in it.

Bob with the UFC shout out. I think we can convince Bob to become a UFC fan.

There is a fighter with the nickname CroCop, because he is Croatian and a cop, plus he is a member of the Croatian parliament. He wears the checkered shorts in the ring!!

Winthrop up 19-17. Oregon running around like a chicken with its head cut off the last couple of possessions.

I have a bad feeling about this.

72 - I like CroMP (pronounced "cromp") better; it sounds less like an online handle.

ESPN has an on Ohio State and they say the three point shot made by Ron Lewis, is there Tyus Edney moment.

Except, Edney won the game with his shot.

Unfortunately, Oregon is the kind of school that inspires confidence in their opponents. No one chokes against Oregon.

The bludgeoning has worked! VT vs SIU is on my computer!

The UFC shoutouts were yesterday, but thanks.

I love when Tajuan Porter bodies up on someone twice his size.

76
D4P is the antithesis of Steve when it comes to rooting for his alma mater.

I can't find the "UFC shoutouts"...

Look at yesterday's thread in the description of the BC-Georgetown game.

The refs are calling some ridiculous offensive fouls against Oregon that (1) happen all the time, but (2) never get called

I am apart of a focus group thing for ESPN.

You will be seeing UFC on ESPN soon.

At the half, Winthrop and Oregon have combined to shoot 2-3 from the line.

I think Purdue has started its downward slide.

I even hate the way Noah claps his hands.

The NCAA Tournament brings out latent feelings in me.

79 - It's also just a fact. The only sport in which Oregon has any intimidation factor whatsoever is cross country. Even Igor Olshansky wasn't enough to strike fear in the hearts of opposing football teams. And Ernie Kent doesn't exactly construct the most intimidating basketball teams. Tajuan Porter is amusing, and he can shoot. But you be scared of him, under any circumstances, ever?

You will be seeing UFC on ESPN soon

BTW: Do you mean "UFC" per se, or MMA?

Stop slipping Purdue!!

87
UFC exclusive.

UFC exclusive

What kind of stuff will ESPN be showing? Seems like UFC wouldn't even want them showing highlights, given that they want people to buy the DVDS.

59 I had a professor for a summer class on international relations at UCSB who was visiting from Purdue for the summer. He said that there was no doubt in his mind that if GWB were elected president, the USA would be in the midst of war for the majority of his presidency.

I have badly wanted to remember his name and contact him to ask him what it was that made him so sure. At the time he said it, I was sitting in his class on a July morning in Santa Barbara. I wasn't exactly running on all cylinders.

90
Sportscenter will show highlights and they may eventually be getting their own show on the network. I am guessing like a Friday Night Fights type of thing.

91
At least you went to a class in the morning.

My "local" team is now Virginia Tech

If Purdue beats Florida, I will buy a Purdue t-shirt when the game is over. Presumably, one with Purdue Pete on it.

I would not go to West Lafayette, Indiana as I am guessing it is less scenic than Oregon.

This point is in the process of being mootified.

70 That's not a remote control. You're trying to change the channel with a bar of soap.

1)Put down soap
2)Find remote control
3)Bush buttons

94 - This is what you get for leaving the best state in the union.

Bush buttons

http://tinyurl.com/yp9qde

???

Where does Voxter live...?

97
D4P is living in his own private Idaho.

99 - Portland.

So how's UNLV doing?

I think today is the day when my once strong NCAA pool sheets both imploded. Ah well. Now I can watch the rest of the tourney rooting for whatever underdogs there are.

I feel like pulling a Mata and barfing on myself.

---

realized, too, why I underestimated UNLV in the tourney. They lost to my UCSB earlier in the year, so I assumed they must not be very good.

Portland

Nice. Maybe you and Bob can take in a Portland Beaver game this summer...

Does anybody else think Winthrop sounds more like a butler (not a Butler) from a British drawing room comedy of the 1930s than a college? Or a confederate bulldog from a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

One of the things I think I am really bad at is identifying rugs. Does Ian Eagle have one?

Porter is a stud.

Oregon is getting killed on the boards

106 Please. Hair replacement systems, not rugs.

He's got some wicked power alleys, and the part is just a little too perfect. We could have a hairpiece situation...

Oregon is also not missing a lot of shots, so I wouldn't worry too much about the rebounds.

Wisconsin is annoying me. They keep getting down by a lot of points, then coming back.

109 But is it a "Colletti"?

MWC teams have employed a closer by committee strategy for the tournament.

Unfortunately, they're all Danys Baez. Close out a game for goodness sakes!

C'mon, People Who Make Boilers!

The least Purdue could do is injure Noah.

I believe that Verne Lundquist's and Bill Raftery's description of Florida's play is "fawning" at best. "Obsequious" at worst.

Well if Florida is just going to hit a series of silly shots, this thing is over.

I think Lundquist might be more appropriately described as "unguent."

Right now I'm feeling "truculent."

Jesus. They just cut to FLA-Purdue, which shortly went to commercial -- and they didn't toss back to the Oregon game. I'm now listening to the radio and watching a UPS commercial. This is really burning my toast.

Someone took the jam out of Vox's donut.

I have the hots for the chick with the big hair who doesn't want to ride in a convertible with the top down.

Breakfast metaphor

Oregon "big men" are foul magnets

Enough Paul Simon references.

116 - I would call it "purple" and "clairvoyant" as well.

121
Yeah.

There is now a 7 point difference between FLA and Purdue, and fewer than 40 seconds left. I would like to see, oh, the team from my home state, for instance.

I would assume that Verne and Bill be heading to St. Louis to follow the Gators coronation romp through the rest of the Midwest Region.

I believe Butler has a nonzero chance of beating Florida. I believe that nonzero has starts out .00000 before you see a 1.

But if you read it like the Torah they can't lose!

Jaws is with a shark you stupid Florida band.

Does Donovan discuss strategy during timeouts or does he just remind the players which boosters have the payouts after the game?

128 - I plan on kidnapping Joachim Noah and replacing him with Ralph Finnes in full Lord Voldemort makeup between now and Thursday. Would that make a difference?

I like it when my team makes 3-pointers

UNLV winning. Great. Another "tough" matchup for Florida.

Do you think UNLV would beat Oregon?

Now we have gone to UNLV - Wisconsin.

Dear CBS,

I live in Portland, OREGON. Think about that for a minute and get back to me.

Cordially,
V.

132
Just need to steal some hair for a girl.

135
D4P thinks so.

134 - Florida gets Butler.

Butler is gonna Buttle right through the Gators.

Okay, maybe not.

Yeah, but they could face Florida. Not like any of these teams left in their bracket exactly strike fear in the Gators.

Wait, you're watching on a PORTLAND affiliate and they left an Oregon game?

They're not supposed to do that.

In L.A., they stayed with UCLA-Weber State until the bitter end. Same with USC-Arkansas.

Yep. Far as I can tell.

OREGON always gets shafted

Does Voxter know he can watch the game online, as I am doing?

I was going to post something about the weirdness of Portland not seeing the Oregon game. A good portion of my NCAA tourney viewing over the course of my lifetime has been spent being stuck on another Stanford bomb.

On Friday, we got a "KOIN-TV Breaking News" screen for three minutes in the middle of the second half.

Okay, wait . . . there's a second channel listing the NCAA tournament. And they're showing the Oregon game.

Now I feel stupid.

Oregon's leading rebounder today?

Tajuan Porter

In 1984, Georgetown won the West region.

They beat SMU in the first game 37-36.
They went on to Pauley Pavilion for the West Regional and the other three teams were UNLV (who wasn't all that good that year), Washington (a very weak Pac-10 champ), and Dayton.
The Hoyas beat UNLV and Dayton to go to the Final Four, which they won, beating Houston.

I actually had to root for Georgetown that year as the Guy Lewis Houston teams were like the Florida teams of today except dumber.

Because most do not have to do much school work Billy.

You have to go down to two people tied for 10th to find someone who has picked UNLV.

Wisconsin is no longer annoying me. Or as Vlade would say,

"I am no longer irriTAting"

There goes my bracket.

Does Lon Kruger remind anyone of the late character actor Barry Atwater?

http://tinyurl.com/3xxn9l

Well, I'm out of it now. I had Wisconsin losing to Ohio State in the final.

As does our leader Monterey Chris.

So again say to him Sic Gloria Transit Mundi.

SB had Wiscy in the Elite Eight.

Marlon Anderson and Gobias Industries had Oregon going to the Elite Eight, so they may be sitting in the catbird seat.

In other news, I will go buy a new showerhead tonight.

Steve backed up his MWC talk by picking the Runnin' Rebels to beat Wisconsin. Nice job, Ninja.

Also, since I hadn't caught it until right now, the person who named their bracket "Horse Toilet" gets fifty billion points.

Suffering Bruin will temporarily take over the lead once the Salukis finish up things against Virginia Tech.

So the Sweet 16 will have just one ACC team? UNC.

Duke, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and BC have all walked the plank.

157

I'll stop in and check it out this week.

"You look like The Incredible Hulk if you turned white and didn't do situps."

Man, these writers are good. I will have to start watching more sitcoms.

I know, what morons. The Hulk didn't even do situps.

Come on Wolfpack.

162 He didn't wear shirts either.

163
Thank you for using the correct spelling.

I reneged on University of Nevada out of high school.

Has anyone else found it ironic that UNLV calls itself the Rebels even though the state of Nevada was created during the Civil War pretty much for the sole purpose of getting the Republicans two extra Senators.

Hardly anyone lived in Nevada for a long period of its statehood. I think it had a population of around 40-50K in the late 19th Century.

And here I thought Nevada was created for entertainment purposes only

Calipari outstanding coach?

Dirty recruiter, yes.

I believe John Calipari does the same type of coaching as Billy Donovan.

If Nevada did not have Vegas, it would be Wyoming.

And here I thought Nevada was created for entertainment purposes only

And testing weapons of mass destruction, of course

Look at those great Memphis fundamentals. Air-balling a wide open lay up.

Wow, never thought my grade school (Santa Rosa) would be mentioned anywhere online other than the yellow pages. Random, but opened my eyes this late morning...err afternoon. Go Valley!

171
If Wyoming had Vegas, it would be Wyo-ch-CHING!

Nevada is also where they test alien technology and store the bodies of crashed Extra Terrestrials.

It's out in Groom Lake.

I just realized that Wisconsin's loss means I can pull hard for the Trojans.

I guess this game won't do much to soothe the pain of the 2006 Rose Bowl.

174
Santa Rosa beat us because they were very well-coached and didn't make many mistakes. The team was short, but could get the ball in the halfcourt and, well, run a play.

I believe my league consisted of:
De La Salle
Guardian Angel
Santa Rosa
St. Euphrasia
Our Lady of Lourdes (Northridge)
St. Didacus
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
St. Genevieve (which is a K-12 school)

We played all our games in the old gym at Alemany High. My school's rooting section conisted mainly of two of my brothers until we started winning and then other parents showed up.
My dad worked Saturdays and couldn't make many of the games and my mom had to go to the supermarket on Saturdays with my grandmother because my grandmother pretty much HAD to go to the supermarket on Saturday or else her world would have spun off its axis.

177 Might wanna tweak that phrasing a little bit.

Loderick Stewart's game consists of:
Catch ball
Shoot ball

178 That I didn't even realize this was a rematch of the 2006 Rose Bowl shows how much pain I feel over that game.

The USC fans I know aren't all that upset about the 2006 Rose Bowl. At least they don't blame the loss on Texas. They blame it on USC screwing up and playing bad defense.

Yet, UCLA fans still think they can taunt USC fans by wearing Texas clothing. I'm telling you:
IT DOESN'T WORK.

You annoy USC fans by wearing UCLA clothing. There's no need to overthink this issue.

Why would people want to support anything from Texas?

Once the game is over. My support disappears.

I blame Reggie Bush's lateral for the loss.

That's the good thing about being out of the running in a pool - you can forget it and just root for whoever you want to.

Of course the bad thing is, I'm in a pool with three winners, and the top prize takes 2,300 bucks.

Go Pac-10!

That graphic CBS put up neglected to count women's sports.

USC has two national titles in women's basketball and Texas has one.

185
And it wasn't even a lateral!

Interesting news that has to deal with Durant.

http://tinyurl.com/2zr9wx

The SEC is the leader in Sweet 16 teams with three: Florida, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Kentucky is up in the air.

The Pac-10 has two: UCLA and Oregon with USC up in the air.

The Big 12 could have three if Kansas and Texas win. Texas A&M is in.

The Big East has two: Georgetown and Pittsburgh.

The ACC has one: UNC
The MWC has one: UNLV
The MVC has one: SIU
The Horizon has one: Butler
The Big 10 has one: Ohio State
The WAC or CUSA will have one with Memphis and Nevada playing each other.

But Dickie V tells everyone the ACC is easily the best conference in America.

It will be time for me to leave soon. I will try to pick up on the basketball games when I get back via my DVR. This may or may not work.

192 In the words of the 4 year old next door every morning at 7:30 when his dad leaves for work.

NOOOOOOOOOO! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! AAAAAHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOO! PLEEEEAAAAAAAAASSSEEEEEEEEEE!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Sorry, I didn't mean to kill this thing.

I just realized opening day (for most teams) and the National Championship game fall on my birthday.

I don't think you killed it. Busy Sunday for some people, I'm sure.

Busy Sunday for some people

Yeah, my wife and I are busy preparing for another of her Candlelight Suppers. We had to go out and buy a new set of beakers, as the neighbor lady is also dropping and breaking them. My wife no longer lets her use the Royal Doulton.

197 Enlighten me (get it candlelight, funny right) seriously, I thought beakers were only used in chemical labs and if that is what you have in your home, then you may not want to post that on a public messageboard.

198
http://imdb.com/title/tt0098837/

That's like five posts that aren't about college basketball. Shame. Shame.

Using beakers as cooking utensils is Geek Chic.

http://www.orangemagazine.com/article.php?aid=202&a=p

I don't know if this is generally a British thing, but the term "beaker" is used in that show to mean "mug" or "cup" (i.e. something you might drink hot tea from)

Yes, that' a British thing.

188 - it was an illegal forward lateral and should have been a 5 yard penalty. Serenity now....serenity now...

D4P's love of Keeping Up Appearances and Onslow, knows no bounds.

Onslow has joined GOB, Tobias, George Michael (not the singer-songwriter), and a few others in the pantheon

195
I just realized trainwreck and I have the same birthday.

I remember on Dodger Thoughts, someone had the same birthday as me.

So much for my Nevada upset.

That could be me, or it could be a third party. I'm not sure I post enough to have my birthday come out all that often.

I seriously debated putting Texas in the Final Four. I decided that I couldn't have two Texas teams in the Final Four.

Thank goodness...

Jim Nance and Billy Packer win the "Most Awkward Conversation Ever" award for a sports broadcast.

Cringe Factor: 10

How many of SC's players are going pro after this year?

212 I heard Packer say he had never touched Nantz during a broadcast and the awkwardness afterward, but what did Nantz say to instigate that comment from Packer?

211 Bruin fans get annoyed by the smallest things, O.J. Mayo will get mentioned every time USC is on national television while the all-time Oregon High School scoring leader and number one ESPN.com recruit, Kevin Love rarely gets mentioned while UCLA plays on TV.

Nantz: With Billy Packer, the Simon Cowell of basketball
Packer: I've never touched you during a broadcast
Nantz: Uhhh...
Packer: Isn't that what he was accused of?
Nantz: Uhh, it was a compliment, Billy. Simon Cowell on with Anderson Cooper tonight on 60 Minutes!

{three seconds of awkward silence}

End Scene

213 The only one who is probable first round pick is Nick Young.

Tim Floyd will do his best to limit his losses to perhaps Young (since Mayo will play in his spot anyway) but he cannot afford to lose Gibson and Pruitt(not that they are pro prospects but they think they are)

LOL

Kevin Love almost never gets mentioned...Correct. I think they all just like talking about "What a great job Tim Floyd has done...And OJ Mayo is coming in!"

It's almost as if talking about Mayo is the period to end the sentence.

Pruitt claims he will be coming back. I think Young said he might too.

I would not be surprised to see Gibson leave. Young should leave. He is probably the third highest rated player out of the Pac-10 (Hawes and Lopez would be higher). With the academic trouble Pruitt has had, I think he may end up leaving.

I forgot about Budinger. Man NBA scouts are stupid.

219 To be fair and please Greg don't get started, most national PR types tend to be very supportive of KD trying to survive in Pete Carroll's shadow.

Just saying that media types tend to like underdog/unexpected results. Unless you are Duke.

221 Williams is already going, I guess it means Jacobsen has a chance to start at Arizona even though he sat on the bench at Mater Dei behind the Wear twins.

I could care less who they talk about when it comes to recruiting. Mayo has been hyped since middle school, so I expect him to get talked about a lot.

I think Young would end up rating higher than Williams. Young has every aspect of the game down. He is the prototypical SG. Williams still has some emotional problems and his game is not as complete as Young's.

I personally think Young is a better prospect than Budinger right now too, but NBA scouts favor upside and potential way more than results. They tend to ignore areas of weakness.

223
I think their lineup will be Bayless, McClellan, Budinger, Horne, and Hill.

222
Without "Getting Started,"I would agree with your assessment.

227 Was that very J.D. Walsh of me, maybe Markinson to Jessup.

Tennesse is killing me. First I had Long Beach State beating them. And I also had Virgina in my sweet 16. At least 7 of my elite 8 and all of my final four are still alive.

Virgina

That's kind of like Dido

My drunk bracket is doing better than my sober one.

Between Texas and Wisconsin, I'm pretty sure some brackets got destroyed today.

Sorry, I meant Virginia. My spelling ain't too good.

I have not lost anything major yet, but I am not happy with my performance.

And getting out my bracket again, I see Virginia in my final four. My bracket is doomed now, so I'm just gonna root for a USC-UCLA final.

Btw, does anybody else ever have a tough time remembering who they picked? This is the first year I've ever filled a bracket out and it gets kind of annoying when I have to keep check back to see who I'm rooting for.

One of the reasons I don't like to fill out brackets is that I prefer to root for and against teams based on whether I like them or not, not whether my bracket needs them to win or not

I constantly root against my bracket. I much rather have things line up well for UCLA than me win a pool.

236. Yeah during the USC game I thought I had NC defeating the winner of the game. And after the game I realized I was in trouble. Now I will be rooting for USC to beat NC.

This will interest D4P among others.

Said Kent (Ernie): "I have an agent, and he's been contacted by some people. All I'm going to say is that I want to be at Oregon as long as they want me there. But if they don't want me there anymore, and Michigan wants to talk, Oregon owes me the opportunity to listen."

Lakers wear their white uniforms too much.

240 Ernie, you have a shot at the Elite 8 if you can beat UNLV, don't start talking about other jobs.

241 If you mean Sundays at home, then I guess they do wear them too much.

I would say things line up for Florida, Sweet 16 against Butler and then the winner of Oregon vs. UNLV. Ohio State's possible Elite 8 opponent will be either Texas A&M or Memphis while there is still a shot at a 25th Anniversary game between North Carolina and Georgetown.

Out West, the only bracket to have all top seeds win out, Kansas vs. Southern Illinois while UCLA plays Pitt.

As an ex-Duck player himself, Ernie really wanted to be Oregon's coach when he was hired, and I think fans were generally excited to have a Duck be the coach. I think the locals have soured on him a bit in the last few years, though primarily because of the team's lackluster performance. But as far as I'm concerned, Oregon basketball is not and has never been a premier program, and you can't expect them to be good every year. Making it to the Sweet Sixteen twice in 6 years or whatever is a big accomplishment for Oregon.

3 times in a year is too much for me.

245
Sleeping with a co-ed did not help him either. It single handedly caused Kevin Love to no longer consider Oregon.

Sleeping with a co-ed did not help him either. It single handedly caused Kevin Love to no longer consider Oregon

I never heard the details of all that stuff, but I thought something bad had happened. Did he really sleep with a student?

If I remember the story right he took a student on a trip to Mexico and admitted his indiscretions.

That's too bad. My late grandmother used to attend the same church that Ernie attended.

Liddell vs Rampage II set for UFC 71.

Chuck will probably win. Rampage doesn't seem as good as he used to be.

UFC 69 doesn't look that great. The only bout I'm interested in is Sanchez-Koscheck. I don't like either fighter, but it should be interesting. I can't really see Koscheck winning.

252 Explain in two sentences or less what can you do in Ultimate Fighting that is different than other martial art bouts.

Other martial art bouts are restricted to certain styles such as jui jitsu, wrestling, judo, or muay thai. MMA you can use all those styles.

Yeah, feel the same. I will be pulling for Rampage.

UFC 69 is pure garbage. I don't like Diego or Koscheck, but they hate each other so it should make the fight better.

253
The answer to that question depends in part upon what you mean by "Ultimate Fighting"; if you truly mean the UFC (which is a particular brand name), that's one thing; if you really mean "mixed martial arts", that's another thing, as there are many mixed martial arts promotions besides the UFC, each typically with their own set of rules; but in general, mixed martial arts, as the name implies, refers to a type of combat that mixes wrestling, kickboxing, submission fighting, jiu-jitsu, tae kwan do, judo, etc. etc. etc.; you can punch, kick, elbow, knee, etc., you can take your opponent down to the ground and strike them there or try to get them to submit via chokeholds, armbars, kneebars, etc.

Also, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "other martial art bouts."

Don't poke eyes, don't pull hair, don't spit on anybody. I think that's it.

Other than than, go kill each other.

I think that, in the early days of MMA (and especially the UFC), the idea was to pit people of different styles (e.g. wrestling, striking, etc.) to see which was the "best" discipline.

Over time, one-dimensional fighters have generally been replaced by "well-rounded" fighters who have mastered multiple disciplines. For the most part, if you can only do one thing well, you probably won't be that successful anymore.

In America there are more stringent rules thanks to John McCain.

Thanks, how much money can a champion make in these fights or do they do it for the love of the game.

260
When most of these guys started the sport was not very popular so they did not make much money at all. The only way to make decent money was to go to Japan, because the sport was popular much sooner there.

Now that it has become popular the top fighters can make over a million a fight (PPV percentages) or at least six figures. The lower fighters still do not make much money. Around 3-10,000 a fight. Now the top guys are getting signed to contracts, so they pretty much already know how much they will be making.

That is just for the UFC by the way. The fighters in the smaller organizations are getting paid even less then the bottom UFC guys, unless they have some kind of name recognition.

Most fighters in the lower organizations have to have day jobs.

Anyone know how Felt Tip Pen is doing on his bracket?

That would be last.

Poor guy.

I was really pulling for that pen.

That's what it gets for picking Xavier - 'tis an accursed pen.

It's a poor craftsman who blames his bracket picking pen.