We're gonna dance all day long...

Oh wow, it is time. It is March. It is the best time of the year. Better than Christmas, better than my birthday, better than any other time all year. Every March my grades in school start to fall a little bit and I begin to focus a lot more on the TV than my text books. I spend more time studying unknown teams like Withrop than I do studying for my accounting tests. But it is all worth it. Once I graduate and have to go to work from 9 to 5, then, maybe, I will not fake sick for the first round of march madness, but for now, at least for one more year, I will find myself sprawled out on the couch, jumping up and down, cheering for teams that I had never heard of before. Yes, it is the best time of the year!
Well, it is time for me to make some picks. I am going to predict from each of the regions my upset pick, the best first round match-up, a team to watch that could make a long run to the final four, and also, my final four team. So lets get started in the Midwest, St. Louis Region.

Midwest
UPSET PICK- New Mexico State. I watched the WAC championship game last Saturday when NM St. upset the top ranked team Utah State who has previously won 17 straight games. NM St. has a pair of guards that can catch fire and take down a struggling Michigan State in the first round. I worry that NM St. will just be happy to be there and shocked that they get to play in the tournament. It would be a truly impressive upset if they can pull it off, but it is not impossible.

BEST FIRST ROUND GAME - Tennessee vs. San Diego St. The Mountain West got four teams in the tourney this year which shows that they are the premier mid-major conference in the country. The were better this year than the Pac-10, the A-10 and other leading conferences. San Diego State won the mountain west tournament in Las Vegas against UNLV. Tennessee has been streaky this year at times playing like one of the nations top teams and other times they play like trash. They are coming off a 30 point loss to Kentucky. I think Tennessee will win this one, but it will be close.

TEAM TO WATCH - Georgetown. For anyone who watched the Big East tournament, you cannot help but be impressed with G-Town. Wright, Monroe, and Freeman were at times unstoppable and I think that if they play well, they can compete and beat any team in the country. One of the potential games that I am most excited for is a possible Georgetown vs. Ohio State match-up in the sweet 16. Georgetown has good depth and they can play a full 40 minutes against a Ohio State team who only has 4 scorers and no one on the bench. But lucky for them, one of those 4 scorers is the best player in the country, Evan Turner.

FINAL FOUR PREDICTION- Kansas. I think it will come down to a Kansas vs. Georgetown elite 8 match-up, but Kansas has too much skill and experience that they will out last G-Town.

West
UPSET PICK- UTEP. All I have to say about this game is that UTEP is not a 12 seed. They are much much better than that. Sadly, they are playing a Butler team that also deserves a better seed having won 20 straight games. This will be a great game and Butler will most likely come out on top, but don't sleep on the Miners.

BEST FIRST ROUND GAME - BYU VS. FLORIDA. Like I mentioned, the Mountain West is a great conference this year and all 4 of the teams in the tourney from that conference can potentially win their first round games. BYU deserves a much better seed and will also be playing a tough Florida team, but one that most people said shouldn't be in the tournament. But last year, everyone said Arizona didn't deserve to be in it, and they made it to the Sweet 16. So Florida may find a way to win this won and show that they deserve to be there.

TEAM TO WATCH- BYU. Honestly, I think they have the backcourt led by Jimmer Fredette to beat any team in their region. For them, their hardest game will be the first one. BYU has not won a first round game in 17 years. If they can finally get over that hump, they just might make a long run into the tournament. If they make it out of the first two rounds, they will find themselves playing in their own backyard, Salt Lake. Even though they got an awful seed, they were blessed with a great region.

FINAL FOUR PREDICTION - Kansas State. The Wildcats road will not be too difficult. I think the West bracket is one of the weaker ones and I believe Syracuse will be the first #1 seed to be knocked out, if that is the case, the road for K-State will get a whole lot easier if they can make it past a very difficult BYU team.

East
UPSET PICK- Cornell. Another team that deserved a better seed. They almost beat Kansas earlier this year and even though Temple is a great team, and also probably deserves a better seed, if Cornell can find a way to keep Ryan Wittman in the game, they should be able to come out on top. The Owls are good, but I think Big Red will win this one.

BEST FIRST ROUND GAME- Marquette vs. Washington. The Pac-10 had an awful year. I love the Pac-10 more than any other conference, but this year was no fun to watch. On the other hand, the Big East had an amazing year. They were without a doubt the best conference in the nation. So on paper, this game should be a blow out. But I have watched Washington play a few times this year, and they are a good team. They will put up a fight and this game will not be a one side affair.

TEAM TO WATCH - New Mexico. Before losing in the Mountain West tournament to the eventual champions San Diego State, New Mexico had won 15 straight games including 2 wins over BYU. I think New Mexico will make it to the elite 8, but will fall short to Kentucky in their bid to make it to a Final Four.

FINAL FOUR PREDICTION- Kentucky. I may hate John Calipari and think he is a cheater, but he once again has a team good enough led by John Wall to make it to the final four. Lets just hope that if they do, Calipari doesn't get this one taken away from his team like he did from his other two teams. Kentucky's biggest test on the road to the final four will most likely be against Wisconsin. The Badgers play at a speed much slower than Kentucky does and they have had success all year slowing their opponents down. If they can do that against the Wildcats, they have a chance to pull the upset, but lets be honest, Kentucky will find a way to beat Wisconsin.

South
UPSET PICK - Sienna. They have won 19 of their last 21 games and will be playing Purdue who has been one of the nations top teams all year. But Purdue got absolutely destroyed by Minnesota in their last outing and will very likely not be playing with Robbie Hummell in the tournament. Without Hummell, Sienna will put up a fight and could find themselves sending Purdue back to Indiana early. But if the Saints can't take out Purdue, either Utah State or Texas A & M will have no trouble doing so in the second round.

BEST FIRST ROUND GAME - Old Dominion vs. Notre Dame. I'll be honest, I do not know a lot about Old Dominion, but from what I understand, they are a very good defensive team with lots of experienced seniors. I akso think Notre Dame is not worthy of a #6 seed and from what I have seen, these two teams seem to be evenly matched. It should be a great game.

TEAM TO WATCH- Richmond. The Spiders have beaten Mississippi State, Florida, Missouri, and Temple this year. They have a high scoring back court of David Gonzalvez and Kevin Anderson, the Atlantic 10 player of the year. After they beat St. Marys in the first round, they will play Villanova in round two and will send Scottie Reynolds and the Wildcats home early.

FINAL FOUR PREDICTION- Baylor. Their guard LaceDarius Dunn is one of the top scorers in the Big 12 averaging about 20 points per game and shooting over 40% from three. They also have a great point guard, Tweety Carter. Baylor's toughest test will be in the elite 8 against Duke. This will not be an easy win for them, and I cannot give my promise and guarantee that they will beat Duke, but that is what my gut is telling me. The South region has Duke, the weakest #1 seed and also Villanova, the weakest #2 seed. Baylor's path to Indianapolis will not be too difficult, so Go Bears!


NATIONAL CHAMPION- KANSAS.
I feel like this year has overall been a weak year in all of college basketball. There are not very many players that have emerged and become top NBA prospects. Lots of conferences are down this year. I feel like it is very possible that we see a repeat of 2006 in which we see no #1 seeds in the final four. But even though I feel like this has been a down year, Kansas has been consistent all season. Sherron Collins has been playing very well as of late and Cole Aldrich is a beast on defense. He averages almost 4 blocks a game and has accumulated 118 blocks on the season. I am not ready to put my stamp on Kansas and hop on their band wagon, in March, you just never know what will happen, but of all teams, Kansas looks most poised to win it all.

Barcelona FC (Team Messi)

Today was a big sports day. The number one team in college basketball, Syracuse, went down to unranked Louisville, keeping Louisville's hopes alive for an at large tourney bid. On a personal note, sadly, this was the final game of the regular season for Arizona and it looks like, for the first time in 25 years, the first time in my lifetime, they will not be a part of the madness. That alone is enough to make me cry. But Arizona won their final regular season game this afternoon defeating USC in double overtime. Nic Wise, the only senior on the team, made a game winning lay up with 1.5 seconds left to give Arizona the victory.
But besides college basketball, the other biggest highlight of the day was the Lionel Messi show. On Wednesday Argentina beat Germany 1-0 in a pre Worl Cup friendly match. On wednesday, lots of different teams also had games. So today, these players had to travel back to Spain from various parts of the world to be able to play this afternoon against Almeria. Barcelona is in first place right now in La Liga. But they came out looking tired and slow. They were not contesting for the balls and very quickly, in the 12th minute, Domingo headed a ball off a corner kick into the back of the net. The rest of the first half, the play was back and forth. Each team had a few chances to score off counters and set pieces, but no ball found its way into a goal until Messi knocked one in off a free kick from just outside the box in the 42nd minute. It was one of the sweetest little kicks I have ever seen from that distance. No one got a foot, head, or hand on it. It flew up above the wall and fell right into the right side of the net.
In the 57th minute, Carles Puyol from Barcelona knocked in an own goal to put Alemania back up by one. But team Messi wasn't done. Although he didn't get much help from his team, in the 66th minute, Messi knocked in a little left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. The game was tied at two and would end that way.
I do not get a lot of chances to watch Barcelona play. They are my favorite Champions League team and I love to watch them. But the biggest reason that I love them is because of Lionel Messi. For those of you who do not know anything about him, let me tell you just how special he is:
Messi is the best player in the world right now. He is a 22 year old midfielder who was born in Rosario, Argentina. He was essentially a child prodigy and has been playing for Barcelona minor league teams since he was a teenager. He has the fastest feet on the field and watching him run with the ball is like watching fire. He is the "spark" for Barcelona FC (he is currently leading La Liga with 19 goals this season), but also for the Argentina National team. He wears number 10, the number that was made famous by another Argentine, Diego Maradona. In Argentina, Mardona is considered a God, he is D10S. For the country of Argentina, Messi is their current savior. If they have any hope of winning the World Cup this summer, he will have to carry the team. Although they do have many other amazing players including Carlos Tevez, Hernan Crespo, and Martin Palermo, if Messi does not spark the fire on this team, they will not have a chance once they get out of group play. Ironically, the biggest reason they may not do well in the world cup is not because of one of their current players, but because of one of their former players, the greatest of all time, Diego Maradona, who is their current head coach.
If you have never seen Lionel Messi play, I cannot begin to tell you what you are missing out on. He is amazing. Watch any of these highlight videos and you can see it for yourself...


Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Balance

On January 25th, 3 of my friends and I drove down from Idaho where we go to school, to Salt Lake, UT to go to the Suns vs. Jazz game. The four of us had grown up in Arizona and are all devout Suns fans. With about 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter the Suns were up by 17 points, but true to form they found a way to lose the game. I was the only one of us four who was decked out in my suns gear. So I had to suffer the humiliation of walking out of the stadium listening to the Jazz fans laugh at me. Luckily, I just had to remind myself, at least I am not a Jazz fan.
Last night was our turn for revenge. This time we played down in Phoenix. I was obviously not able to make the trip to Arizona to watch the game, so I invited those same 3 friends over to watch it on the big screen TV at my place. Naturally, I assumed they would all come, but this time, only three of them did. It was the same story as the last game. The Suns lead by 13 points with about 6 minutes to play in the fourth quarter and somehow, just like the Suns always do, they figured out a way to lose the game. It was absolutely horrible. On the bright side, I did not have to drive home for four hours after this loss. But the weird part to me about the game was that when it was over, I was the only one left watching it. Everyone else had left. One of the two guys left in the early part of the second quarter to go and be with his girlfriend, and the other guy left with only 3 minutes left in the forth quarter also to go and be with his girlfriend. First of all, what the heck are they doing? Why would they even be dating girls that take them away from something they love or who can't come over and watch it with us. But that also got me to thinking, is that why I do not have a girlfriend? Am I not willing to sacrifice sports? Well, to some extent, I will need to, but for now, I am satisfied with loving sports!

There is just over a month left in the NBA regular season and the playoff races are starting to heat up. Each team has any where from 15-20 game left to play, so plenty of time to get things figured out. The western conference has 11 teams that could claim one of those 8 playoff spots, while in the east, the top four spots are basically decided and the bottom four are being fought over by 5 teams. The east is an interesting story. It has the best team in the NBA and also the worst. The Cavaliers seem to be figuring out how to play with Jamison and without Shaq. Although the Magic have started to come on strong as of late, I don't think that they have enough speed to be able to keep up with the Cavs in a seven game series. The Cavaliers, to me, are the best team in the NBA and I would be shocked to not see them in the finals. But sadly, I will be even more shocked if they can beat the Lakers. The west is a ton of fun to watch and I love the way the west plays basketball, but when it all comes down to it, we all know which team from the west will be in the finals, the Lakers. Which is sad to think about. But I think all of us are stoked to see a Lebron vs Kobe finals! That would be greater than any that I can think of in recent history.

Click on this link to follow the conference standings...
http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html



These next few months are some of the most exciting in all of sports. In just about 2 weeks, the most exciting thing to happen all year will begin. I may love Christmas, but to me, the greater Holiday is March Madness. There is nothing I love more. I will be writing a ton about that. If there is ever a time of year that I cannot sacrifice sports for girls, it is march. I know what is most important, and I can sacrifice sports for other things, but once a year, I do not go to school, I do not leave the house, I do not even leave the couch except to go # 1 or 2. In March, there is no balance in my life.