All Sports Everything: Dishing What's Relevant Across The Board
Dishing What's Relevant Across The Board
photo via AP
Without Baylor or Notre Dame to contend with, there was no doubt that Geno Auriemma and the Lady Huskies were poised to win the championship this season. While the Lady Cardinals of Louisville had an incredible run, last night they proved to be no match. They were simply out played and routed by a dominant UConn, losing 93-60.
Congrats to UConn and of course, Auriemma on his eighth national championship!
Photo via Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Although I jumped ship and rooted for Michigan in the title game, I can never be mad at a Big East Champion, especially when a team balls out like the Louisville Cardinals did. But the icing on the cake was watching Kevin Ware’s 100 watt smile in the final minutes of the game and of course the lowering of the net for him to revel in his one shining moment. I think I shed a tear.
Overall, it was an amazing finish to a wildly unpredictable college basketball season. Congrats to the Louisville Cardinals and newly elected Hall of Famer Rick Pitino. Way to represent for the Big East one last time.
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, I decided I’d ride with the Big East until the wheels fell off. Since this is the final opportunity for the Big East to enter the record books, I thought it would be awesome to go out with a bang. That was up until Michigan, my first true college basketball love, made a run all the way to tonight’s championship game against Louisville.
The strained relationship between Chris Webber and the other Fab Five members (Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, and Ray Jackson) has been well documented. Webber, who violated NCAA rules and accepted over $250, 000 in donations from a college booster, has refused to acknowledge his college career and has distanced himself from his former teammates. Whenever Rose, King, Howard, and Jackson are together, Webber is noticeably absent. Yet, that hasn’t stopped Rose from publicly asking or pleading with Webber to finally put the past behind them and reunite for tonight’s big game. The other four members of the Fab Five hope to be in attendance tonight and would also like Webber to join them.
While it’s a reasonable request and something I’d love to see, why Rose feels it’s necessary to constantly call Webber out is beyond me. Two years ago, during promotional rounds for the Fab Five documentary, Rose was quick to let people know that Webber opted not to participate. Now, Rose is drawing more attention to Webber. Although I’m sure Rose genuinely would like to reunite the Fab Five for the right reasons, it comes off as a bit self-serving. If mending the relationship is his top priority, Rose should talk to Webber privately and respect his personal decision to do whatever he feels is best for him. It’s unnecessary to report every attempt he’s made at reaching out to Webber, back to the media. Although social media and blogs have created a society that believes every little detail of our lives should be played out in front of the cameras, it’s not true. Privacy and discretion are still alive and well; and above all, valued.
Personally, I don’t blame Webber for the stance he’s taken. Before the NCAA handed out its punishment, Michigan self-imposed sanctions upon the basketball program, which resulted in erasing Webber’s name from the books, removing the Fab Five’s Final Four banners from the rafters, vacating team wins, and more. Webber was also banned from the university for 10 years. The ban expires next month, but since the national championship game is on neutral ground in Atlanta, Webber is allowed to attend as a fan. Michigan also asked Webber to pay the school $695,000 in restitution. Meanwhile, Michigan didn’t return the millions of dollars it earned off of him and the rest of the Fab Five. It’s one thing for Michigan to rule with a stern hand and send the message that they won’t tolerate such indiscretions, but also hypocritical to keep the money they earned off of someone they wanted absolutely nothing to do with anymore..or at least the past 10 years.
Although Webber was in the wrong, he felt betrayed, and not just by Michigan, but possibly by his former teammates as well. While Webber was forced to stay away from the school, Rose, Howard, King, and Jackson maintained a relationship with the university. Perhaps Webber feels their ties to the school in the face of his admonishment showed a lack of loyalty on their part? I don’t know. And because Webber refuses to discuss it, all I can do is speculate.
Had Webber participated in the Fab Five documentary and shared his side of the story then, today everyone would be discussing the accomplishments of the current team, not dredging up twenty years of bad blood. Here’s video of Jalen Rose putting the full court press on Webber, pleading for him to attend tonight’s game…
As a die hard Fab Five fan, I’d love to see them all in attendance at tonight’s game. But if Webber chooses not to attend, that’s his right. He doesn’t owe anything to anyone, most of all the University of Michigan. Sitting in the stands, yelling “Go Blue!”, and pretending to have school pride doesn’t sound like an enjoyable night given his history with the school. I respect his decision, and as a so-called friend and brother, it would be nice to know Jalen Rose supported Webber and did the same.
photo via NYTimes.com
Before Florida Gulf Coast University shocked us all by beating the University of Georgetown, if someone would’ve mentioned FGCU, our collective response would’ve been, “FGCU who?” Yet, when the Eagles knocked out the Hoyas by playing shutdown defense, going on large runs, and high flying dunks, they earned the attention of a nation; only to follow up that performance with a more impressive victory over San Diego State. After another dominant performance, we remain enchanted by this year’s Cinderella team who’s become the first 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16 in the tournament’s long history.
But not everyone slept on FGCU. A very small percentage of brackets predicted the Eagles’ historic rise in their first NCAA Tournament appearance ever.
· 47,950 brackets (1.5 percent) picked #15 FGCU to win their game over No. 2 Georgetown
· 18,583 picked them to also win their Round of 32 game and make the Sweet 16
· 4,982 picked them to also win their Sweet 16 game and make the Elite 8
· 1,591 picked them to also win their Elite 8 game and make the Final Four
· 696 picked them to also win their Final Four game and make the Championship
· 337 picked them to also win the NCAA Championship
In ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, out of 8.15 million brackets, “Just 0.95 percent of brackets picked the Eagles to reach this round, and a whopping 2,354 brackets have them winning it all. Interestingly, 0.3 percent of brackets predicted the Florida-Florida Gulf Coast matchup in the Sweet 16.”
Right now, FGCU are the darlings of the dance, but don’t let the media hype fool you. According to BetVega.com, FGCU went from 1000/1 odds to 100/1 odds of winning it all. This proves their stock is rising, however, Vegas hasn’t completely abandoned the Louisville, Indiana, or Florida bandwagon just yet. Respectively, the odds of them winning it all are 3/1, 5/1, and 5/1. If you played it safe with any of those three teams, it seems you were smart to do so because you have a greater chance of receiving a payout than FGCU’s risk takers. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what keeps us vested in the tourney year after year? The thrill of watching david slay goliath is cool, but nothing beats cashing out. Whether it’s 100/1 or 3/1 odds, winning it all is priceless.
FGCU’s next big test comes on Friday at 9:57PM/ET when they face their state ‘rivals’, the No. 3 seed Florida Gators.
Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/
photo via youtube.com
Because they can’t broadcast the actual games, ESPN struggles every year to find new and exciting ways to cover March Madness. This year, ESPN finally said eff the system, CBS, Turner Sports and the billions of dollars they paid to own the Men’s NCAA Tournament multimedia rights.
With the help of its golden boy Bill Simmons, ESPN is full on ambushing the NCAA’s pre and post game tourney coverage. Simmons with a camera in tow, and a few members of his Grantland posse, which includes Jalen Rose, Joe House, and my personal favorite, Rembert Browne, are setting up shop at Simmons’s residence to provide supplementary programming during the tournament. The coverage will be live streamed at grantland.com/live.
In true Simmons fashion, this rogue experiment won’t include the typical college basketball analysis. Instead, Simmons and Co. hope to provide a little levity and a more down-to-earth perspective to the wildly unpredictable tournament. AllThingsD.com quoted Simmons saying,
We want this to feel like a looser, more irreverent studio show. Like a live podcast where people feel like they are hanging out with us while watching basketball. I have no idea if this will work but we like trying new things at Grantland. … the only way we know if something will be successful is by trying. We will talk about things that I assure you none of the traditional shows will be talking about. Office pools, gambling picks, what we are eating, etc. I can also promise you no other studio show has their mother cooking all day Thursday an Italian feast for everyone to eat on Friday’s shows.At the end of the day this really is just a convoluted way of getting ESPN to pay me to watch basketball with my friends. Oh — and now I can write off part of my man cave on my taxes.
Before live tweeting and live streaming became a thing, Bill Simmons live blogged his thoughts during sport and entertainment events. Fans love his irreverence, insight, humor, and general point of view on sports and pop culture. Including other popular personalities from his Grantland all-star team like Jalen Rose, Rembert Browne, and Joe House makes a ton of sense. While Simmons is the grand poobah of this thing, not to be confused with Grand Puba (although he’s a much bigger deal in my world) Jalen, Rembert, and Joe also have their own cult followings. Whether loved or hated, the supporting trio are pros at provoking reactions, and that’s the kind of entertainment value that would entice you to fire up the laptop and see what they’re up to.
Although live streaming during events isn’t necessarily new, ESPN is making a huge statement by testing the waters. If the response is positive, there’s nothing to stop them from using this as another property to drive revenue, or inspiring other media entities to do the same. Well, until a lawsuit is filed or contract terms are updated to include this loophole.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing, the link to check out the live stream is grantland.com/live. Also, follow their @grantlandlive twitter account so you can stay up to date on when the Grantland team will be streaming.
Right now, they’re tentatively scheduled to go live on Thursday and Friday at the following times:
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 PM/ET
1:30 – 1:45 PM/ET
6:10 – 6:50 PM/ET
Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/
Kid President is back, and still awesome.
He headed into his oval office and made his NCAA Tournament picks with the help of ESPN’s Robert Flores. Like Kid President said, President Obama picked his bracket, now it’s his turn to get in on the #marchgladness.
“Mike Sasowsky!” LOL, so good.
But wait. Why isn’t this kid in school?
Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/
photo via tyandashstand.blogspot.com
Let’s face it, most of you March Madness junkies don’t have the luxury of clearing your work schedules to watch the day games from the comfort of your own home or local dive bar. Instead, most of you will be forced to schlep to the office, pretend to work as you follow the madness and keep the panic attacks to a minimum as your brackets go up in flames.
Notice I keep saying you? Well, that’s because I do have that luxury. This is one of those rare instances when the freelance life pays dividends, and yes, I’m cashing out!
Jealous, yet? Well, don’t be. There’s absolutely no shame in maintaining a job and collecting a steady paycheck. After all, you have to find a way to cover the cost of those exorbitant entry fees for your multiple brackets, right? Plus, the NCAA recognizes how evil bosses can be, and more importantly, how necessary the games are to our health and wellness.
For the third year in a row, the NCAA’s free March Madness Live app has made it extremely convenient for us to follow the action, no matter what we’re doing or where we are.
Two years ago I chose a trip to Portugal over staying put to watch the Final Four and the final game. Although I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to watch the games, nothing stood between me watching Kemba Walker dominate his way to a championship win. Trust me, the March Madness Live app was everything I needed it to be.
Whether you watched the tourney from your office last year and need a refresher, or if you’re a newbie to following the action on-the-go, here’s all the info you need to multi-task like a pro.
The NCAA’s app March Madness Live is still available for free live streaming across .com, mobile and your tablet (yes, droid users too!) as long as you’re a paying TV subscriber. To gain access, you’re required to provide your cable subscriber information, but once you’re in, you’ll have access to every live game. However, if you’ve cut your TV cord to save a few bucks like many Americans, March Madness Live also allows you to stream up to four hours of content without registering. The coverage will be available on NCAA.com, CBSSports.com and Bleacher Report along with Google Play and the App Store.
As great as that is, there are times when a wifi connection is shotty or inaccessible, altogether. That’s when going old school and listening to the radio becomes a life saver. Sirius XM Radio will broadcast every game on channels 91, 92, 93, 94 and 95. If you have XM, the games will be broadcasting on 91, 190, 191, 192, and 85. If you don’t have either, Dial Global Sports owns the broadcast rights. Go here to find your local station.
Also, remember the tournament begins Tuesday, not Thursday! TruTV will do the honors of covering the tip off between North Carolina AT&T vs Liberty NC at 640PM/ET. If you have no clue what channel that is, no worries, just enter your zip code in this handy channel finder. TruTV is airing 13 games total, so you should get familiar with the network, if you’re not already.
If you’re interested in the Women’s tourney, ESPN has you covered! Coverage of their selection show begins tonight, Monday, at 7PM/ET on ESPN. Per, SI, “every game of the tournament (63 games) will air on the ESPN networks. ESPN and ESPN2 will present its telecasts in a whip-around format with home market protection through the first two rounds. (ESPN3 will offer first- and second-round games in their entirety as a supplement). The final 15 games, beginning with the regional semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2.” Please join me in prayer, as I send one up to the basketball gods in hopes we receive a Baylor – Notre Dame final.
For a complete play-by-play of March Madness coverage, go here, here and here.
Now that you’re covered on how to keep track of the action, good luck making your picks.
Enjoy the Madness!
Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/
The only thing that possibly rivals the anticipation of March Madness, this time of year, is the return of AMC’s hit show, Mad Men. It’s been almost nine months since last year’s season finale. So, this supercut created by Original Comedy, showing the team at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce discussing ‘the madness’, is tantalizing, but mostly awesome.
Mad Men returns with a 2-hour season premiere on April 7 at 9PM/ET on AMC.
photo via multivu.com
In recent years, March Madness fans have become accustomed to the TV ad campaigns executed by Dove Men+Care. They often feature current or former NBA athletes who made a name for themselves during the NCAA Tournament, college basketball coaches and also experts. Magic Johnson, Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal and John Thompson are a few basketball greats who have participated in the campaign in the past. This year, the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and ESPN college basketball expert Jay Bilas were tapped to represent the brand. The campaign’s theme is fatherhood and shows the proud papas in ‘Real Moments’ with their real children.
According to the official press release,
The “Real Moments” campaign reveals an unexpected glimpse into Bilas’s and Wade’s life experiences via “how-to” formatted stories with a comedic twist. While fans may believe that ‘mastering the drive’ is a basketball focused activity for Jay Bilas, what he really cares about is finding the time to sit shotgun while guiding his daughter behind the wheel. Dwyane Wade shares that the best method for ‘staying in shape’ is not solely about hitting the gym, but playing in a bouncy house or swimming pool with his sons.
Wade, who’s been very vocal about the role his children play in his life, had this to say about the campaign, “The real moments in my Dove®Men+Care™ campaign capture the joy and excitement my boys and I feel when we are all together. Being a father is the most rewarding aspect of my life and my children teach me, just as much as I teach them.”
Take a look at all four of the fun and playful spots below.
Photo via bossip.com
Continuing with the fatherhood theme, but on a much sadder note, another senseless tragedy took place in Chicago earlier this week. A father, Jonathan Watkins, and his six-month-old daughter, Johnylah Watkins, suffered multiple gunshot wounds while changing her diaper in the front seat of his van. Unfortunately the baby, who was shot at five times, didn’t survive.
This story hit Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose close to home. The new father to a four-year-old son generously offered to cover the funeral expenses for baby Johnylah. While Rose is a Chicago native, it’s often easy to become numb to the senseless violence that’s destroying the community on a daily basis. Not to mention the personal stress he’s dealing with as he continues to rehab from his ACL injury. I doubt his gesture was attention seeking, but I wanted to acknowledge his thoughtfulness because athletes are often perceived as selfish. However, this Rose story does a great job of dispelling that generality. My condolences go out to the family. Chicago, please do better.
Here are details on what took place, in cased you missed it.
Four words: Brittney Griner. Skylar Diggins.
Last night, both women gave their respective fan bases a night to remember as they played their final home games of their collegiate careers.
It’s no secret Griner’s the most dominant player in women’s college hoops, but it’s what she did last night that may have earned her the defining title, GOAT. In a 90-68 victory over Kansas State University, Griner recorded the following stats: 50 Points, 21-28 FG, 8-10 FT, 6 Rebounds, 2 Blocks, and 1 Dunk. Not only did her impressive performance set a Big 12 Conference single-game scoring record, but she’s now ranked second on the career scoring list in Women’s Division I basketball with 3, 123 points.
If there was anything to make that night more enjoyable for Griner and Baylor Bears fans, it’s that all of this took place on her homecourt. Griner’s dunked 14 times in her collegiate career, but she last dunked at home as a freshman. Needless to say, the home crowd has waited a long time to witness that type of greatness, and Griner delivered.
If you missed last night’s performance, don’t worry, I did too, check out the highlights including Griner’s sweet spin move and dunk.
And, Skylar Diggins. Whoa, Skylar Diggins. She absolutely shined in last night’s battle against the University of Connecticut. It seems like yesterday that Geno Auriemma’s Lady Huskies were unbeatable, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Notre Dame has won six of the last seven meetings, including defeats in the NCAA national semifinals in each of the past two seasons. And the reason for Notre Dame’s dominant play has been Diggins. Entering last night’s game, she averaged 20.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.0 steals against UConn.
But it never comes easily, and last night was the toughest test of all. It took the Lady Irish 3OTs and 55 minutes from Diggins to finally defeat UConn. The final score was 96-87. Diggins, the heart and soul of the Lady Irish, played every minute of the game and finished with 29 Points and 11 Rebounds. The win earned Notre Dame its sixth Big East Championship. Click for highlights.
We’re two weeks away from the start of the NCAAW tournament. There’s no doubt Diggins and Griner will deliver great performances as they each try to lead their respective teams back to the NCAA Championship game in their final seasons. And if we’re lucky enough, we’ll get a Baylor/Notre Dame rematch of last year’s NCAA title game. Will Griner end her collegiate career with back-to-back championships, or will Diggins finally taste victory and win a championship of her own, something that’s eluded her two years in a row? Trust me, if you’ve never watched women’s hoops before, Diggins and Griner are two of the best reasons to finally tune in.