Welcome to Atlanta Where the Players Play

After two weeks of basketball, we have arrived at the Final Four.  This has been quite an interesting tournament.  It has had some really exciting moments, but to be completely honest, it has been, for the most part, a sub-par tournament.  The quality of play has been some of the worst I can remember in any tournament during my entire life.  I am not going to get into the details of why I believe the quality of college basketball has declined recently, suffice it to say, play has gotten so sloppy that during the Syracuse vs. Marquette Elite 8 game, I turned the TV on mute and chose to read a book (well, it was a book about college basketball), instead of watching an absolutely awful performance from Marquette.  The Golden Eagles scored a total of... wait for it.... 39 points.  They shot a whopping 21% from the field.  Blah.  I think there are many issues with college basketball that need to be addressed, shot clock, restricted zone, charge/block call, time outs, one-and-done players, etc, but that's not my job, I am here to make some Final Four predictions.  So that I what I will do.  Here are my predictions for Saturday's games.

Louisville vs. Wichita State

For those of you who are all upset that you did not have the foresight to predict Wichita State making the Final Four, I have only one thing to say to you, of the over 5 million brackets submitted on ESPN.com, only 0.2% of people predicted that Wichita State would be in the Final Four.  And lets be honest about it, 99% of those 0.2% of brackets who picked Wichita State are either current students, alumni, fans (I don't know if they have any fans that aren't either students or alumni), or 3 year old kids who picked them just because.  So don't feel bad that you did not pick Wichita State to make it to the Final Four, none of us did.

On the other hand, every person who I know picked Louisville to make it to the Final Four.  Almost 55% of the brackets on ESPN.com had Louisville playing in Atlanta.  So this really is a match-up of one team that everyone believed would be there and another team that no one could have predicted would make it this far.

So can the Shockers get what would be their most shocking victory of the tournament so far (I promise, no more Shocker's puns)? Of the many important elements to this game, I see there being one major key if the Shockers want to win.  Wichita State is a very talented team and does not have to play perfect to win this game, they just have to play almost perfect.  The built up a 20 point lead against Ohio State in the first 35 minutes of the game when the Buckeye's allowed them to bring the ball up court and played a half-court defense.  In those final 5 minutes of the game, Ohio State began to press and that big lead quickly evaporated to the point that I was sure Ohio State was about to win the game.  My biggest concern with Wichita State is whether or not they can handle the pressure of Louisville from the opening tip.  The Cardinals press after almost every made basket and although they do often back off after the ball is inbounded, they will not make it easy for Wichita State to get the ball into the front court, set up their offense, and take a good shot.  I think the Shockers will be forced into many late clock situations where they have to take whatever shot is available, good, bad, or awful.  I also think it is important for Wichita State not to fall behind early.  If they are forced to play catch-up the entire game, it will be near impossible for them to win.  If they are able to keep the game to single digits, they could have a period of 4 minutes in the second half where they go on a run and take the lead late.  But if they fall behind too much too early, I don't think they can orchestrate a run sufficient to take the lead and win the game.

I do think Wichita State has a shot, but unless the injury to Kevin Ware hurts Louisville more than it motivates them, I don't think the Shockers will shock anyone Saturday night (Sorry, I had to use the pun one final time).

Syracuse vs. Michigan

There is one key and one key only to this game (well, there is more than one key, but this is pretty much the only one that matters).  Can Michigan figure out how to be successful against Syracuse's zone defense?  That's it, if Michigan can figure out the zone, they will win.  They are more talented on offense than Syracuse is, so if the zone isn't working and Michigan can score, Syracuse will not have the offense to keep up with the Wolverines.  Because Syracuse has been so successful on defense during the tournament, it is easy to forget that there have been several teams this year who have solved and had success with the Syracuse zone.  If Michigan is able to get a good idea from watching tape of where the weaknesses are in the zone, then they have a change at winning.  One of the best tapes for Michigan to watch would be the Big East Championship game between Syracuse and Louisville.  In the first half of that game, Syracuse held Louisville to only 22 points and had a 13 point lead at the break.  But the second 20 minutes was a complete different story as Louisville outscored Syracuse by 30 points.  If Michigan can figure out what Louisville did differently from the first to the second half, maybe they have hope of solving the unsolvable zone.

 One of the big issues for Syracuse in their loss to Louisville was their turnovers.  The Orange had 19 turnovers which led to fast break opportunities for the Cardinals and did not allow Syracuse to set their zone on defense.  Michigan will want to run and score fast, while Syracuse will want to play a half-court game allowing their zone to annoy and frustrate Michigan.  Whoever controls the tempo of the game will win.  If Michigan is able to score 60 to 70 points, that will be a sign that they are playing their tempo and their style of basketball and I can almost guarantee a victory for the Maize and Blue.  But if the score is in the 40's, Syracuse will be playing their style of game and has a better shot at beating Michigan.  So that I don't end up reading a book, lets hope, for the sanity of each one of us, that Michigan is able to score and at least make this game exciting and worth watching.  But like Jim Boeheim always does in the semi-final game (3-0 in his previous trips to the Final Four), I think Syracuse will win setting up a rematch of the Big East title game.  Having said that and having gone on record as picking Syracuse in this game, if Trey Burke is able to be the magic man that he was against Kansas, Michigan can and should win.  But something is telling me that the Syracuse zone will not allow the Wooden Player of the Year to get into a groove and do what he has done so many times this year, score and distribute to shooters.

MLB Preview and The Soda that Almost Killed Me

A few weeks ago I was longboarding over to a friend’s house to watch some basketball with him. Before I went to his place I stopped off at a Chevron to go inside and get a soda. This Chevron is located just a block from my home and was on the way to the friend’s house I was headed towards. I frequented this convenience store not only because it was close, but it was one of only two places in our town that I had found that sells Diet Mountain Dew (my soda of preference and what I like to believe water will taste like in Heaven) on tap. The other place that sells it, Circle K, is about a mile from where I live. Since I went to this Chevron frequently, I knew exactly how much it cost for me to fill up my cup with soda and therefore would always bring the correct amount of change with me. To get a refill on 32 ounces of soda was $0.99 and after tax was just over $1.00. I absolutely hate pennies (I usually throw them away if I get them back with my change) so I would always pay the person working at the counter a $1.10 and let them keep the pennies. This was my routine until I was no longer welcomed to return to this Chevron.

On this particular day when I went to refill my soda, I went through the same routine and with a cup full of Diet Mountain Dew I walked up to the cashier to pay for my drink. I handed him 4 quarters and a dime and started to leave. The following conversation then ensued between me and the cashier.

Cashier: It’s actually $1.39 for the soda.

Me: This is a refill, it’s only 99 cents.

Cashier: I know it’s a refill, but for that size it is $1.39.

Me: The sign right over there says that it is 99 cents for up to 32 ounce refill.

Cashier: I don’t care what it says over there, that’s not how much it is.

Me: I come in here all the time and always pay 99 cents for my soda.

Cashier: Well just give me the money you have but that is not the price.

Me: (Starting to leave) Ok whatever, but it says right over there that it is only 99 cents.

Cashier: Well next time you come here it will never cost you 99 cents again.

Me: Well I’m sure it will whenever anyone else besides you is working. (I then walked out the door and got on my longboard)

Cashier: (Running out the front door after me) What did you say mother fu****? You better never come back here again or I’ll get a gun.

Me: (Laughing) Haha, ok.

I then left and have only once returned to that Chevron (to take the picture) in fear of running into that same game and getting my brains shot out over a few cents. I thought it was the funniest thing and could not wait to tell my wife. She did not think it was so funny and wished that I had called the police. I did not take it quite as seriously as she did but in the aftermath of the confrontation with the man I now refer to as the Soda Jerk, I have had to go a mile out of my way each time I want a soda and well, that sucks.

So you are probably wondering what this has to do with my 2013 MLB season preview. Well let me explain... it has absolutely nothing to do with baseball or anything else in this entire article, I just wanted to tell that story. So now let’s start the baseball preview.





AL WEST

Angels (92 – 70)

Rangers (88 – 74)

A’s (86 - 76)

Mariners (76 – 86)

Astros (52 – 110)

After adding Josh Hamilton I think the Angels are the clear favorites to win this division and contend for the AL title. The Rangers lost Hamilton along with the three Mikes: Mike Napoli, Michael Young, and Mike Adams. The Angels will have Hamilton, Pujols and AL Rookie of the Year (and in many people’s eye’s, AL MVP), Mike Trout. The Rangers picked up a couple of veterans (Lance Berkman and A.J. Pierzynski) to replace all they lost but I don’t think they have quite enough to contend with the Angels. Like last season, I believe it will be a battle between these two teams for the AL West crown, but unlike last year, I don’t expect the A’s or any other team to sneak up and steal the title away.

AL CENTRAL

Tigers (94 – 68)

Indians (85 – 77)

White Sox (82 – 80)

Royals (74 – 88)

Twins (66 – 96)

After going to the World Series last year and getting swept in a series no one except Giant’s fans thought they would lose, the Tigers return possibly better than they were a season ago. The Tiger’s rotation will give them an advantage against nearly any team they face. The only big question I have is if the Tigers have resolved their bullpen issues that caused a million problems last season in the playoffs. The Tigers are in a very important window right now. They have enough talent to win a World Series and need to take advantage of it now while Verlander, Fielder and Cabrera are all in their prime. I think the Indians with new Manager Terry Francona will be the Tiger’s biggest competition, but down the stretch, I don’t expect any team to come close to contending with Detroit for the AL Central.

AL EAST

Rays (89 – 73)

Yankees (85 – 77)

Blue Jays (83 – 79)

Orioles (80 – 82)

Red Sox (79 – 83)

Just like everyone else, I think this will be the most interesting division to watch this year. There are a lot of unknowns. When will the Yankees be healthy? Will the Jays play up to their potential after making plenty of off season moves? Can the Orioles repeat their amazing run last season and contend for the AL East title once again? Are the Red Sox really as bad as they looked last year or was the main problem Bobby Valentine? The only team that I don’t really have any questions about is the Rays. They are consistent year after year and are one of the smartest teams in baseball.  Joe Madden knows how to get every ounce out of the roster he is given and with so many other questions in the division, I think this is the year the Rays will win the division, but I would not be surprised if each of the 5 teams are still in contention with a month remaining in the season.

NL WEST

Dodgers (90 – 72)

Diamondback (87 – 75)

Giants (84 – 78)

Padres (72 – 90)

Rockies (70 – 92)

The Giants are the defending World Champions and this year they are almost the exact same team as they were last year. The argument is that if it isn’t broke, why fix it? The Giants were not expected to win their division or even get out of the first round of the playoffs against the Reds. Somehow they did and eventually swept the Tigers for their second World Series in three years. My biggest question is if they can get the same production this season from their role players like they did last season. I fully expect Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Matt Cain to be as good as they were last season, but I don’t know if I would put all my chips in on Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro, Brandon Belt and others to be as good this season as they were last year. The Dodgers went and opened their check book in the off season, essentially turning themselves into the Yankees of the west. Last season they made a couple of big deals towards the end of the season but did not have enough time to get the chemistry right between the players. With an entire off season together and with the one, two punch of Kershaw and Grenkie in the rotation, I think the Dodgers are the favorites out west. The Diamondbacks have a lot of talent, but with questions surrounding some of their young prospects, Adam Eaton and Matt Skaggs, I believe they will come up short of the title but will be in contention for a wild card.

NL CENTRAL

Reds (95 – 67)

Cardinals (85 – 77)

Pirates (81 – 81)

Brewers (76 – 86)

Cubs (64 – 98)

The Reds will not only be contending for the best record in the NL Central but for the best overall record in the National League. Last season the Reds ran into a couple of injuries in the middle of the season but could not be slowed down. If they are able to get an entire season out of Jay Bruce and Joey Votto, I don’t see any way they lose this division. The Cardinals are essentially identical to last season with only a few changes. But in my mind, those changes are almost all downgrades. I think the Cards will contend for the Wild Card but will be plenty of steps behind the Reds for first. The Pirates will be interesting again this season. I think Andrew McCutchen will contend for NL MVP and will continue to show that he is one of the best players in the game today. Once again, their biggest question is whether or not they can sustain their winning ways for an entire season and not just until the All Star break.

NL EAST

Nationals (97 – 65)

Braves (88 – 76)

Phillies (80 – 82)

Mets (69 – 93)

Marlins (59 – 103)

The Nationals are the best team in the Majors. I don’t think there is much debate about this right now. Stephen Strasberg will be pitching the entire season (unless his bionically repaired arm, or another part of his

body, suffers an injury) and Bryce Harper is another year older and hopefully a bit more mature. I am not a baseball scout or an expert on the sport, but looking at the National’s lineup and starting rotation, I don’t see any major areas of weakness. The Braves should once again be the Braves and just like the other Atlanta teams (Hawks and Falcons) they should be pretty good, good enough to get to the playoffs, but not quite good enough to win a World Series. It will be fun to watch the Upton brothers play together and Jason Heyward should continue to improve. It will also be interesting to watch a Braves game without Chipper Jones (who debuted when I was 5) but I don’t think his absence will be a big setback for Atlanta.

Well there you have it, my 2013 season predictions. But if this season is anything like last year with lots of surprises (A’s and Orioles just to name two), come the All Star break, I may have to go back and delete any evidence of these predictions.
And finally don’t forget today’s lesson, if someone charges you 30 cents extra for a soda, it is probably best to just pay the extra money, if you don’t, you are putting your life in danger and it may not be worth it. Although, truth be told, for Diet Mountain Dew, I will willingly put my life in danger whenever necessary (good thing my wife never reads my blog).

The Crazy 8

I realized something while I was watching the Sweet 16 games.  In the first of the 8 games I predicted that Miami would basically run all over Marquette and that the absence of Reggie Johnson would not hurt Miami's chances during the game.  Well pretty much everything I said was completely wrong.  Marquette got an early lead on the Hurricanes and never looked back.  Then it hit me, not only did I get my pick wrong, but I made that prediction on a blog for everyone to see.  I realize that making an incorrect pick is very common in the sports world, especially during March Madness, but I decided that I would make different kinds of picks for the Elite 8 (I did get 5 of the 8 games right, which isn't too bad, but ya know).
So instead of posting my picks for the Elite 8, I am going to make a few other predictions related to the games but not about the final outcome.  Since there are 4 games, lets do 4 picks for the elite 8.

1) At least two players will receive flagrant fouls for elbows to the face.
This has probably been one of the most annoying things about this tournament so far.  Every time that punch to McGary's junk.  The game is being delayed too much by the officials, so I predict it will happen at least twice in these next 4 games.  On a side note, I also predict I will need to buy a new TV as I throw my head through the one I currently have after the refs stop the game again for another stupid reason.
someone swings an elbow near the face of the other team (intentional or or not), the referees take what seems like 15 minutes to review the play on the 27 inch TV screen.  This has happened over and over again and sometimes a flagrant is deserved, but most times a player is being doubled and while trying to free himself from the defense he will move his arms up and make contact near the defenders face.  But anytime there is something even questionable, the game is stopped and I get annoyed.  The refs are not only stopping for elbows but are blowing the whistle any time there is a question related to the clock or whether a shot was a two or three or in the case of Elijah Johnson and Mitch McGary, to review a

2) There will not be a single commercial that I have not previously seen.
There are a butt load of things I love about March Madness, but the thing I hate the most is the commercials.  Wow those are repetitive.   Last night I decided to play a game during every commercial break and try to find a commercial that I had not already seen.  I had two games running at all times and during those 5 or more hours of basketball (2.5 hours or more of commercials) I only saw one commercial that I had not previously seen.  The commercials are not only repetitive but also painfully stupid.  I don't know yet which commercial wins the award for the worst but some of the front runners include: Southwest Airlines,  Quiznos Lobster Sandwich, Subway Italy, Northwestern Mutual, the Bud Light blind date, and in my upset of the year, all of the Capital One commercials (they were funny, but they quickly got really super awful and annoying after the five gazillionth time I saw them).  We will be forced to watch each of these commercials way too many more times and it's gonna suck (but I have to give it up to Sonic for making a watchable and re-watchable commercial and not playing it every 10 seconds).

3) Three of the four games will come down to the final minute.
Of all the Sweet 16 games, only two of the games were honestly exciting (Ohio State v Arizona and Michigan v Kansas).  The rest of them were actually pretty lame.  But by this point, the teams that were "lucky" have been weeded out and we should be left with nothing but good teams.  Even Wichita State who is a 9 seed should be able to keep it close against Ohio State.  There is not a single game that I can say, "x team is going to win and y team has no chance."  Of the 8 teams remaining, I think each of them can make it to the Final Four and would not be surprised by any of the possible outcomes.  After all, now that Arizona and FGCU are out of it, who do I have left to cheer for?  I guess Wichita State is the closest thing to a west coast, Cinderella team, so, Go Shockers!

4) Three of the four lower seeds win.
This would be a huge upset.  Almost as crazy as if Tim Hardaway Sr and Glen Robinson (the second? Or junior? I don't know what he is being called, he was always just Glen Robinson, but now that there is Glen Robinson III what do we call the original?) were not shown on camera at least once during the Michigan game.  I am pretty confident that Louisville will beat Duke, so that would mean that Wichita, Syracuse, and Michigan would all have to win.  I don't know if I am bold enough to make that pick, but whatever, I am going to do it.  Like I said above, I would not be surprised if it went the exact opposite way and Duke won and all the other lower seeds lost.  Let's just hope these games are more exciting than the Sweet 16 games were.

So there you have it.  My four predictions for the Elite 8.  I'll also add in a 5th prediction:  Mitch McGary will score 40 points against Florida, walk off the court, declare for the NBA draft, get drafted 36th overall, spend a season on the bench for the Kings (or Sonics) and then end up in Europe before returning to Michigan in 2018 to get his degree and spend the rest of his life as a 6th grade teacher.  Wait, I have no idea why I made that prediction.  I guess I wanted to at least get one of these wrong since the rest of my predictions are so dead on.

I also have to give a shout out to my buddy Clark who is currently in 10th place out of thousands on ESPN's Tournament Challenge.  If you want some real predictions on the games, go talk to him.

A Little Less Complicated Bracket

All I have heard from anyone these past few days is, "So man, hows your bracket look?"  I can't think of a polite way to say, "Dude, it sucks, everyone's bracket sucks", so instead I usually just shrug my shoulders, make a sound that sounds like I am saying, "I don't know" but no words actually are said and act like I didn't even realize March Madness started.  Let's face it, picking the first two rounds is just too much and no one will ever get close to getting it all right.  My wife and I are more likely to give birth to a black baby (we are both white) than anyone is going to get all their picks right.  So I give my plea to everyone, stop worrying so much about your bracket and just sit back and enjoy the games.  If you didn't pick FGCU to get this far, its not your fault, no one did, so just enjoy the upsets (unless you are a Georgetown fan, in that case, you have the right to be upset, I know what that's like).  So let's pretend that that first weekend of basketball didn't happen and lets re-pick with the remaining teams.  It's the Sweet 16, only two wins from the Final Four, so who will take the first steps to get to Atlanta? Lets break it down:

Thursday
Marquette (3) vs. Miami (2)
The news broke this morning that Miami will be without big man Reggie Johnson for the Sweet 16.  He is the Hurricane's top rebounder but if anyone has watched Miami in the previous few games, they could easily tell that Johnson was not playing his best and was clearly hampered by an injury.  So the strange reality is that Miami may actually be better off allowing him to sit this game out.  This will cause the Canes to play a smaller lineup and should improve their perimeter defending.  Marquette on the other hand has had to pull off a couple of miracle games to get to this point.  They won their first two games by a combined 3 points.  I don't look into the previous games too much because all that matters is that the Golden Eagle's won.  But I think their lucks runs out against Miami.
Winner: Miami

Arizona (6) vs. Ohio State (2)
The Wildcats are basically the opposite of an Oreo cookie.  Not because they are a bunch of white guys who are black on the inside, but because they are playing the best basketball at the beginning and end of the season with some not so good play squished in the middle (and we all know the best part of the Oreo is the middle, for that reason, they are the opposite of an Oreo, or an inside out Oreo, or whatever you want to

call it, come on, you get the analogy).  But the same thing could be said about the Buckeyes as they have won 10 straight games and are playing great the last part of the year.  I think the most exciting one-on-one match-up of this round will be seen in the game with Mark Lyons who is a fast and aggressive PG who can break down his defender and get to the rack goes up against one of the nation's best defenders, Aaron Craft.  It will also be interesting to see how Arizona guards Deshaun Thomas, OSU's leading scorer.  The Cats will need to figure out how to stop Thomas and limit his scoring.  I think their best option is to be aggressive on offense with Solomon Hill, Brandon Ashley, and Grant Jerrett, and attack Thomas and hope to get him into foul trouble, which will cause Thomas to not be as aggressive on offense.  I don't know if the fact that Sean Miller is a Thad Motta disciple and was his Assistant Coach at Xavier before taking over his job after Matta left for Ohio State, will actually play a factor in the game or not.  The Wildcats would love to say that the student has become the teacher, but I think when it's all said and done, the teacher will remain the teacher. The Arizona fans will need some luck, maybe they can get former Buckeye walk-on, Mark Titus, to watch the game with his parents.  Pretty much whoever wins this game is on their way to the Final Four (the winner plays the winner of La Salle and Wichita St).
Winner: Ohio State (I hope I'm wrong)

Syracuse (4) vs. Indiana (1)
This may be one of the more interesting Sweet 16 games of the year.  Indiana was tested against Temple and needed some late game heroics from Victor Oladipo to defeat the Owls while Syracuse was never really tested in either of their first two games.  They beat Montana so badly that they left the Grizzlies looking like a camper covered in beef jerky after getting attacked by an actual grizzly.  I have heard arguments for both teams in this game.  Some people have been very impressed with the Cuse and think they will pull off the upset while other people think any team the Big 10 puts on the court has superhero powers and will win just because they have a Big 10 patch on the jersey.  I do think the Big 10 is the best conference in the country and it's conceivable to think that all 4 Final Four teams could be from that conference.  Indiana is the better team but they have lost to teams worse than Syracuse this season.  So, hmm, who will win? Gosh, stop pressuring me to pick.  I have no freakin clue who will win this one.  Indiana is going to want to score in transition while Syracuse will hope to play half court offense and therefore stop the Hoosiers from running.  Whoever is able to control the tempo and play at their pace will win.
Winner: Indiana

La Salle (13) vs. Wichita State (9)

These two teams had big upsets along the way to the Sweet 16 beating teams seeded higher than them in both of their first two games.  I had not seen much of either team before the start of the tournament and therefore cannot give any inside information as to who will win, but the eye test tells me that Wichita State has the advantage.  I thought they looked better in their first two games and looked like a team that could play tough against anyone they're matched up against in the tournament.  La Salle is hoping to repeat the feat accomplished by VCU from two years ago when they went from the First Four to the Final Four, but I think they come up short against the Shockers (and please no more "they shocked the world" jokes, we all know by now their name is the Shockers, jokes over).
Winner: Wichita State

Friday
Oregon (12) vs. Louisville (1)
Let's pretend that this is a 1 vs 4 match-up in the Sweet 16 because the fact that Oregon has a 12 by their names makes people think that they are on the same level as La Salle, FGCU or even Wichita State, but they're not.  They won the PAC 12 regular season title and only lost 8 games this season.  They are much better than a 12 seed and proved that in their first two games.  This is a very similar situation to when Arizona was a 12 seed in 2009 and made it to the Sweet 16 only to play Louisville, who was the #1 overall seed.  But that was nothing but bad news for the Wildcats who got murdered (if that word is even harsh enough for how badly they lost), losing 103-64.  I think Oregon will keep the game a little bit closer than that, but they ran into some bad luck.  If they were playing one of the other top seeds, maybe they would have a little bit better of a chance, but I just don't see it happening for the Ducks.
Winner: Louisville

Michigan (4) vs. Kansas (1)
I have been very impressed with the Wolverines in the first two games and I have only been kinda impressed with Kansas.  They did look very good in the second half against North Carolina, but all year, I have never felt like Kansas was a true national title contender.  Michigan on the other hand looked better than they had almost all year when they beat VCU in the second round.  If Michigan can continue to get production from

Mitch McGary, I think they will win this game.  His ability to score in the paint, run in transition, and defend Jeff Withey will be key for Michigan.  I think they are more talented and are playing up to their potential right now.
Winner: Michigan

Michigan State (3) vs. Duke (2)
Wow, I feel like I am about to watch a Final Four showdown from pretty much every year of the past decade.  These two teams have been staples in the late rounds of the tournaments for many years thanks to the only thing on a college basketball team that is ever consistent, the head coach.  The Spartans looked incredible against Memphis who I thought was going to keep it close based on their incredible athleticism.  Duke looked good against Creighton, but not great, they were never quite able to deliver the knock out blow and although the game never got too close, Duke simply did not look as dominate as I expected.  I thought going into the tournament that Ryan Kelly would be the key to Duke making a run, but I was wrong, it is all about Seth Curry.  He has proven to be the best player on the team and if Duke hopes to win, it will come down to Curry making big shots.  I am looking forward to watching both the Curry vs Harris and the Plumlee vs Nix match-ups.  If PG Keith Appling is able to play well after his injury, I think the Spartans get the win.  Maybe this game will be Tom Izzo's change to show Jabari Parker that he made the wrong choice picking Duke over State.
Winner: Michigan State

Florida Gulf Coat University (15) vs. Florida (3)
Ahh man, this sucks.  I hate that it has to end, but I think my love affair with FGCU is soon to be over.  Or maybe I am just planning for the worst.  Here is what needs to happen if FGCU wants to win: Florida needs

to not show up to the game.  I don't mean literally, although that would for sure guarantee a Eagle win, I mean they need to play how they did against Kentucky down the stretch and not score for the final 7 minutes.  Or how they played against Arizona giving up a 7 point lead with less than a minute left in the game.  Florida has shown that they can have a brain fart for a period of time and lose games they had no right losing.   FGCU certainly has the athleticism to hang with the Gators and keep it close just in case that meltdown does happen.  But Billy Donovan has been in this situation before, both as a player and as a coach and I think he will have his team ready.  There will be a lot of FGCU "fans" at Cowboy Stadium (by fans I mean the few fans that they send to the game plus all the Michigan and Kansas fans who will be cheering for them as well), but in the end, I think the Gators are too good to let the Eagles get away with another upset.  But once again, I hope I am wrong.
Winner: Florida

Who is Florida Gulf Coast?

So I hear there is a number 15 seed in the Sweet 16.  Huh, that's interesting.  Who is it? Valparaiso? Lehigh? Santa Clara? Wait, who is it? Florida Gulf Coast? Is that a University or a geographical region in the state of Florida? Wow, I have never heard of that University, and they made it all the way to the Sweet 16? That's incredible.
No doubt many people woke up this morning, came into work, and had a similar conversation to the one above.  Let's face it, come March, everyone pretends to be a college basketball fan, it's the things to do, but very few people knew anything about Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) before the start of the tournament.  I too did not know much about them.  I knew that they beat Miami earlier this season but that was the extent of my knowledge of FGCU.  I am usually not one to jump on a band wagon and become a fan of the team doing well.  I remember when I was in 4th grade I think, living in Tucson, AZ, there was a girl in my class named Kelley.  She was the prettiest girl in our class and all the boys had a crush on her.  I remember one day I asked her who her favorite NFL team was and she told me the Green Bay Packers.  I thought to myself, "Why would she be a Packers fan? We don't live anywhere near Green Bay. Where the heck is Green Bay?" So I asked her, "Why are you a Packers fan?"  She responded, "Because they won the Super Bowl." Well that was all I needed to hear to no longer have a crush on her.  Even as a 4th grader, I could not stand people who liked teams only because they were good and won championships.  I don't know why, it was some internal natural feeling I had, but I could not betray my team simply because another team was better than them.  I am 100% against band-wagon fans.  Or am I?
After this weekend, I think I may have to hitch by wagon to FGCU and become a fan of the Eagles.  I am sure I am not the only person who feels this way after watching them beat #2 Georgetown and #7 San Diego State.  I cannot remember ever seeing a team that was this exciting before.  So I decided to study up a little bit on Florida Gulf Coast so that when I tell people I am a fan, I do not sound like I became a fan 3 days ago, even though I did.
So for all you who like me have decided to be a true blue, die hard, til death (or at least until they lose), Eagles fan, here are a few facts that you should know about FGCU:

1) The University has only been around since 1997.  Let's put this into perspective.  Florida, who the Eagles play on Friday has been around since 1853.  Georgetown who the Eagles beat in the first round was established in 1789 and San Diego State who they defeated in round two came into existence in 1897.  The youngest of those 3 schools is 100 years older then FGCU and the oldest is 208 years older.   The University is younger than every single player on the team.

2)  Florida Gulf Coast has only only had a Division I sports program since 2007 but did not become eligible until 2011 because they had a 4 year probationary period. So in only 2 years they have gone from their first year of full eligibility to a spot in the Sweet 16.

3) FGCU is located in Fort Myers, FL and when it was originally established, classes were being held in trailers.  Fort Myers is a town of just over 63,000 people and is located 2 hours northwest of Miami.  Campus is just a short drive from the beach.

4)  The FGCU mascot is named Azul the Eagle.  Azul mean blue in Spanish, in case anyone forgot day one of High School Spanish class.  But Azul is not Azul, he is brown and white just like any other bald eagle.  Go ahead and add him on Facebook.

5) FGCU is coached by Andy Enfield who has been the head coach since 2011.  In his first season as head coach he brought the Eagles to the Atlantic Sun championship game and in his second season he won the Atlantic Sun title game earning the FGCU their first automatic bid to the tournament.

6) As everyone who watched the game knows, Enfield is married to a former supermodel.  But what most people don't know is that on their first date, he took her to get dinner before they attended a basketball game, and where did he take his beautiful date to eat? Well only finest and most delicious establishment known to man, Taco Bell.

7)  FGCU's leading scorer this season is Sherwood Brown, a Senior Guard from Orlando, FL. Brown is majoring in Legal Studies and was the 2013 A-Sun player of the year.  He was not named after the band Sherwood (est. 2002) or the Sherwood Forest in England, he was given the same name as his father.  But I have no idea who or what his father was named after.

8)  Five of the FGCU players are from the state of Florida, but three of them are from over-sees, Germany, Switzerland, and Croatia.

9) The most expensive season tickets to the Men's Basketball team are $279.  The cheapest season tickets are $99 for general admission.  The Alico Arena where they play seats 4,500 people.  Many major universities charge $279 for a single game ticket if you want to sit in the lower bowl.  For example an average single game ticket for the University of Arizona is $150, season tickets were priced from $500 for the worst seats all the way to $2,100.

10) FGCU is the first ever #15 seed to make it to the sweet 16.  Six previous times a 15 seed knocked off a 2 seed in the first round, but never before has that 2 seed won the second round game to advance to the round of 16.

Now that we all know a little bit more about FGCU, I think it is ok if we decide to cheer for them on Friday night against Florida.  GO EAGLES!!!

First Weekend in Review

I hope everyone enjoyed the first weekend of March Madness as much as I did. It was an exciting 4 days of basketball. For me it was especially exciting that my Arizona Wildcats were able to make it to the Sweet 16. March Madness is always exciting, but it is much better when you have your own team to cheer for. I don't know what I will do if both Arizona and Florida Gulf Coast lose this week in the Sweet 16, I'm gonna be forced to cheer for, uh, gosh, I don't even know who I would be cheering for, probably Wichita State. Come on Wildcats! On Thursday morning before the games started I made a couple of predictions for the first weekend of the tournament, so lets see how I did.


1) There will be an upset no one is expecting. Hmm, lets see, how many people had Harvard over New Mexico or FGCU over Georgetown? I know I certainly didn't, I had the Hoyas in the Final Four. I think those two games would count as unexpected upsets. My other prediction was that a #1 seed would be tested. Both Gonzaga and Kansas won by single digits and Gonzaga was tied with Southern in the final minutes of the second half before Kevin Pangos hit a couple of big shots including a step-back 3 from the corner. (1 for 1)

2) Someone will have their coming our party in the first round. Honestly, there were a couple of people that could fit this description. I think of Mitch McGary who was a bench player averaging only 6.4 ppg until he got called up to start for Michigan and scored 13 and 21 points in the first and second rounds, respectively. I also think Sherwood Brown became one of the most exciting players to watch over the first weekend. No one had heard of him or pretty much anyone from FGCU, but now the entire country knows their names, and everyone knows that their head coach is married to a former Victoria's Secret model (the camera flashed to her every time FGCU scored). Sherwood Brown had 24 points in the Eagles first game and followed it up with 17 in the second game. He has some amazing dreads and loves to stick his tongue out. He is awesome. I would be in Heaven if this team continued to win. Not only are they a number 15 seed and fit the bill of a Cinderella team, they are one of the most fun teams I have ever watched in the tournament. They have had some absolutely mind-blowing dunks that made me think that Lob City was located in Fort Meyers, Florida and not Los Angeles. I even asked my wife if she would mind naming our first son Sherwood. Check back with me in a few years to see if she was ok with that. I must also give a bit of a homer shout out to Mark Lyons who led Arizona with 23 and 27 points in the first two games. He was without question the best player on the court for either team in those games. He finally started to look like a PG and was able to distribute without causing too many turnovers. But I must also finally mention the player of the tournament so far, Khalif Wyatt, who had 31 points against both NC State and Indiana. Temple almost pulled off the upset of the Hoosiers and the star of the show was Wyatt (until Oladipo stole the crown in the end). I don't know if McGary, Brown, Lyons, or Wyatt will carry this stellar play into the NBA, but at least for now, people who maybe didn't know too much about them before the start of the week, now know their names. (2 for 2)

3) At least 3 double digit seeds will make it to the Sweet 16. Sunday afternoon I was starting to worry that this pick would not materialize and the tournament would be left with only 2 double digit seeds, but thanks to the Eagles of Florida Gulf coast, a third double digit seed advanced to the round of 16. Remaining after the weekend of chaos is #12 Oregon, #13 La Salle, and #15 Florida Gulf Coast. I don't know if any of these teams can make it to the Elite 8, but for now, all have their tickets books for at least one more game. (3 for 3)

Overall, it was a great first weekend. Let's hope the next few days can keep the excitement rolling. In case anyone else wants to jump on the band wagon, get your gear before Friday's game.

Best Day of the Year!

It is finally here.  Let me tell you what happened to me last night, I COULDN'T SLEEP.  Oh but not because I wasn't tired or because I had to take care of a crying baby, no it was because I was so excited for March Madness to begin.  It was like being a kid on Christmas eve.  So I wanted to give you all a few additional picks for this first day of the tournament.  These picks have nothing to do with Streak for the Cash or College Pick 'Em, but these are my 3 top things to look for on the first weekend of the dance.

1) There will be an upset no one is expecting.  Most people are picking Oregon over Oklahoma State or Belmont over Arizona, or Saint Mary's over Memphis, but my prediction is that there is an upset out there that no one is expecting.  Unless you all totally forget about how insane and unpredictable the regular season was, how can you not expect something of equal insanity to happen today?  Last season we had two 15 seeds win on the first day of the tournament.  Now I will not be bold enough to predict that something that awesome will happen again, but there will be a few shockers.  I am expecting Davidson to take Marquette down to the wire. I think Harvard may keep it close against New Mexico.  I also think Iona, who has the 5th highest scorer in the country in Momo Jones and their other guard Sean Armand can make lots and lots of 3's, he knocked down 7 or more on multiple occasions this season.  Iona will not be an easy out for the Buckeyes.  And now, my biggest prediction of all: a number 1 seed will ALMOST lose.  Last season Syracuse almost got knocked off by #16 UNC Asheville.  I was impressed by some of the #16 seeds in the play-in games and would not be surprised if a #1 seed is tested again early.

2) Someone will have their coming out party in the first round.  Like Steph Curry did back in 2008 leading his team all the way to the Elite 8 and missing out on a Final Four by 2 points. Curry's tournament play turned him into a # 7 draft pick.  Back in 2011 Derrick Williams of Arizona led his team all the way to the Elite 8 and had his coming out party against Duke when he scored 32 points.  He was subsequently selected #2 in the following NBA draft.  This year someone who is almost unknown will stand out and surprise a lot of people. I think someone will have their coming out party in this tournament.  Maybe Nate Wolters, or Mike Muscala, or Spencer Dinwiddie, but I have a feeling that someone unexpected is going to put up big numbers.  My bold prediction: Someone will score 40 points in the first round.

3)  At least 3, thats right 3, double digit seeds will make it to the Sweet 16.  Lets face it, we all love to pick the upsets but when we pick our brackets, we usually make the straight forward chalk picks after the first round.  We pick an upset here or there, but then come round two, its all chalk.  Most people's Sweet 16's are nothing but top 4 seeds and maybe an 8 seed.  But if we look at the most recent years, double digits seeds are advancing.  In 2010, Washington (11), St. Mary's (10), Cornell (12).  In 2011, Richmond (12), VCU (11), Florida St. (10), Marquette (11).  And last year in 2012, Xavier (10), Ohio (13), NC State (11).   So this year will be more of the same.  So don't just pick chalk.  Some of your first round upsets will also go to the next round.

I hope you all enjoy the tournament! Let's pray for some upsets and some buzzer beaters.  Oh yes, it is finally here.  If you are having to work and won't be able to watch all the games on TV, make sure you check out (http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/?ncaa_mid=persistence-bar:%20mml) and stream all the games live. If you are watching the games at work, just click on the "Boss Button" and an Outlook screen will come up so your boss won't yell at you.  Don't get fired! Also, for those of you who enjoy Grantland, check out some live March Madness commentary with Bill Simmons, Jalen Rose, and others (http://www.grantland.com/live). Check out thefantasysportscenter.com for picks, predictions, and all things related to fantasy sports, especially the NCAA tournament.

Good luck on all your picks.  Have a great first weekend of the tournament.

Why Aaron Gordon Belongs at Arizona

A few weeks back I took my wife to see a High School basketball game with me.  She is always such a great sport and was willing to come with me to watch a bunch of 16 and 17 year old boys run up and down the court of a tiny gym.  It had none of the excitement or flare that she has grown to love when attending Warriors games at Oracle Arena.  Nevertheless, she sat with me and watched a group of young men shoot air balls, miss lay ups, bank in free throws, and struggle to score 40 points (wow, sounds like we watched a recent Syracuse game together).  But we were at the game for one purpose, to see Aaron Gordon, the #4 ranked High School basketball player in the country.

Gordon is a 6'8" senior from San Jose, CA who is attending Arch Bishop Mitty.  I was excited to get the chance to watch one of the nation's top prep athletes.  But what added to my excitement was that he has selected a group of potential colleges to attend and Arizona, my favorite team, is on that short list.  The negative side to all this is that also on that list is Big Blue Nation, the Kentucky Wildcats.  Lets face it, in today's day and age, High School players want what Kentucky has to offer: a chance at a National Championship before leaving school after one season and becoming a lottery pick in the NBA draft.  Kentucky is known for starting five Freshman each season, sending all of them to the NBA draft and then getting five new ones the next season.  Coach John Calipari is not breaking the NCAA rules by recruiting players with the promise of turning them into NBA players within a season, so I can't blame him for what he does, but in my opinion, he is one of the major flaws with the college game and a big reason the quality of play continues to decline each season.  But this is the world we live in, as Jalen Rose says, we live in a "microwave world."  Young kids want everything right away, instant gratification.  Very few players are willing to be patient and let their game grow and mature before making the leap to the NBA and the big money awaiting them.
I don't think Kentucky is the right place for Aaron Gordon; he belongs at the University of Arizona.  I have decided to put on the hat of a recruiter and tell this young man the top 3 reasons he should become a red and blue Wildcat and not a blue and white Wildcat.

Reason # 3 - Location
Tucson is 820 miles away from San Jose.  Lexington is about 2,500 miles away from San Jose.  Tucson is warm year around and rarely snows.  In the winter during basketball season, Lexington is very cold and will often snow.  The weather in San Jose is much closer to the weather in Tucson than it is in Kentucky.  The culture in San Jose is much closer to the culture in Tucson than it is to the culture in Kentucky.  If you have ever been to the south, although it has great food and great people, it is very different than California.
So why does all of this matter if Gordon is only going to play basketball? I for some odd reason decided to go to a university in Idaho.  I grew up in Tucson and Hawaii.  Both warm climates.  I had never been around the cold before.  Every day I had to walk to class in the freezing cold with ice and snow on the ground I would ask myself, "Why am I here? Why am I not at home where it's warm?"  It also took me a long time to get use to the small town, farming culture of Idaho.  College life can be hard enough, there is no reason to make it any tougher by living far away from home in a new and strange culture.

Reason # 2 - Big man on Campus

Both Arizona and Kentucky have amazing college basketball environments.  In both cities basketball takes a back seat to no other sport.  Both schools have had decent football teams in the past, but neither team compares to the consistent quality of their basketball team.  When a team has been so good for so long, it is inevitable that those teams are going to have amazing fans.  Kentucky has been known for years for having one of the greatest fan bases; a fan base that goes wherever their team goes.  Arizona may not be as well know, but they are equally as amazing as the UK fans.  According to Mark Titus, a writer for Grantland, he says this about Arizona's home crowd, "I've never been to a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, The Pit, or Gallagher-Iba Arena, but I have been to pretty much every other must-see arena in college basketball, and for me the McKale Center atmosphere trails only Indiana's Assembly Hall and Kansas's Allen Fieldhouse. When you factor in that most of the crowd is in the The Price Is Right target demographic, maybe McKale should be no. 1. Anyway, if you haven't already, put the McKale Center on your college basketball bucket list."  I too have been to many games in Tucson and they are special.  Wherever Gordon goes, he will get to play in front of a great crowd and amazing atmosphere.  But if he goes to Kentucky, he will become just another one of their many top recruits to be funneled in and out of the school.  This year alone UK has signed 5 of the top 20 High School players in the country.  Gordon would be number 6 if he chooses to play for Big Blue Nation.  For the fans, he would be just another of the great players.  But if he went to Arizona, he would be "The Guy."  He would be the big man on campus and would be loved by everyone.  And trust me, when Tucson develops a relationship with a player, that relationship never dies.  Fans still feel pride each time they see Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Jason Gardner, or even Luke Walton home in Tucson.  They love their players and treat them that way forever.  When I was a teenager I was at an Arizona football game and saw a huge crowd of people surrounding someone.  I did not know who it was so I walked over to see.  It was Steve Kerr who had been retired from the NBA for a few years.  He was never a super star in the NBA and would be best described as a role player off the bench.  But in Tucson, he was loved by everyone.  Crowds surrounded him to get the chance to shake his hand and say hello.  If Aaron Gordon comes to Tucson, he will not be just another one of the many recruits, he would be loved by an entire city.

Reason # 1 - The player Aaron Gordon wants to become

A lot of people have compared Aaron Gordon to Blake Griffin.  But when I saw him play, I did not see Blake Griffin.  I saw someone who does not want to be a low post powerhouse. I saw someone who wants to play on the wings, take jump shots, drive to the hoop, and when necessary, get dirty with the big men under the basket.  Like I mentioned above, he is 6'8".  He is tool small to play power forward in the NBA.  He belongs on the wing but does not yet have all the skills that he needs to be a wing player at the highest level.  Lets not forget, LeBron James is also 6'8".  In the 4 seasons that Sean Miller has been the coach at Arizona, he has taken two players who were considered "big men" in High School and has turned them into elite wing players who can shoot from the perimeter and also drive to the basket and finish or distribute.  Both Solomon Hill and Derrick Williams were the same size as Aaron Gordon.  Both of them were not considered good shooters when they came out of high school.  Neither of them was expected to be a perimeter threat.  But in his Sophomore season, Derrick Williams became one of the best players in the country.  He shot over 50% from behind the arc and made some very impressive dunks.  He led Arizona all the way to the Elite 8, knocking off the top seeded Duke Blue Devils along the way.  He was later chosen #2 overall in the NBA draft.  Solomon Hill has not received the same recognition and exposure as Derrick Williams did, but he is nevertheless an incredible wing player and the leader of the Arizona Wildcats.  He can bring the ball up court and create offense for himself or his teammates.  When Arizona needs a big basket, Hill will often take the ball the length of the court and get a dunk or find the open player for 3.
Aaron Gordon has two great examples of players who learned under the tutelage of Sean Miller and became great college players on the wing.  If Gordon wants to become the kind of player that I believe he wants to become, there is no better coach than Sean Miller to help get him there.  And with the departure of Solomon Hill after this season, there will be a much needed vacancy in the lineup with Aaron Gordon's name on it.
Arizona refers to itself as "A Players Program" and that is exactly what it is.  I do not want Aaron Gordon to make the same mistake that his brother Drew made by picking the wrong school and having to transfer later.  I cannot predict the future for Aaron Gordon, but I believe it would shine much brighter in the desert sun than anywhere else.

Manti Te'o: What is truth?

I am not going to act like I am reporting breaking news.  Unless you have spent the past two days completely unattached from television and the internet, you have heard about Manti Te'o and his girlfriend.  The story, in brief, goes like this:
Manti Te'o, linebacker for Notre Dame, was dating a girl named Lennay Kekua.  Back in September his grandmother passed away and six hours later his girlfriend Lennay died from her battle with leukemia.  Te'o then went out that following Saturday and played an inspired game against Michigan State recording 12 tackles and an interception.  By the time the game had aired, news of this tragedy had been made known to the public.  People who would not usually root for Notre Dame, found themselves rooting for Manti Te'o and supporting him as he dealt with unimaginable circumstances.  Pictures and videos surfaced of him on one knee praying and in tear and looking towards the heavens.  As the captain and senior leader of the Notre Dame defense, his example of heroism and strength led his team to an undefeated season and a spot in the national championship game.  Along the way, he received many awards as the college football player of the year and finished as the runner-up in the Heisman vote.  Many people looked to Te'o and found strength in his story of courage.
Yesterday afternoon, deadspin.com reported that his girlfriend, the one that he had cried about and told ESPN in an interview that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met, was revealed to have never existed.  There was no record of her death, no obituary, no record of her college enrollment, no record of her birth, no record of her whatsoever.  According to deadspin, she was a fictional girl created by a man named Ronaiah Tuiososopo; it was all a hoax.  It is still unclear as to Te'o involvement in the hoax and whether or not he was the victim or someone's "sick joke" as he called it, or if he was involved and used this death as a chance to gain publicity.  A day after the story broke, it is even less clear than ever what is truth and what is fabricated.  Te'o has since admitted that he never met this girl in person but instead, developed an online relationship with her and "grew to care deeply about her."  He has said that he kept this story from the public because he was understandably, "incredibly embarrassed."
I have my own opinion about Te'o and his level of involvement, but at this point, it is only an opinion.  No one can do more than speculate.  But I have never in my entire life heard a story as odd, strange, and bizarre as this.  I do not have words to describe my reaction to first reading the deapspin article yesterday afternoon.  I was in shock that something like this could happen.  I know that people fall in love online and that on a regular basis, those people that they "love" turn out to be someone else.  I know that things like that happen.  But to simply say that Te'o was fooled doesn't answer all the questions and does not fill in the blanks.  How could he date this girl for one year and never want to skype with her? How could he be in love with a girl who never came to one of his football games? How could he not go and see her after her car accident, or when she was diagnosed with leukemia  or attend her funeral?  Is it possible that someone who graduated from the same High School as the President of this country could truly be fooled to this extent and never question the reality of this person.  Something just simply does not add up; 1 + 1 is not equaling 2.

I wish that I could write an article in defense of Te'o.  I want to believe him.  He is from the town in Hawaii where I have lived for several years where my family still lives.  He is a member of my same religion.  From everything I know about him, he is a good person.  But still, until more facts come out, I do not know what is truth.
As I have thought a lot about this story the past couple of days (I have been forced to think about it, nothing else has been discussed on ESPN), two experiences from my own life have come to mind, one from my own experience, and the other from someone else.
The first experience is when I was 16 or 17 and I took the role of Roniaiah Tuiososopo and created a fake profile online.  Let me give you the back story.  There was a kid who went to my church named Kaden.  I had never had a single conversation with this guy and I do not know why, but for some odd reason, he hated me.  One night I went to a dance with a group of friends and Kaden was there.  The entire night, no matter where I went, if I crossed paths with Kaden, he would repeat "Jimmy is a fag, Jimmy is a fag, Jimmy is a fag", over and over again until we were no longer around each other.  At one point I was dancing with a girl I though was cute and he came over to me and continued to call me a fag.  I said nothing to him, but instead decided I would get back at him some other way.  That night I went over to my friend Troy's house and along with our friend Ben, we created a fake myspace account for a girl named Brooke.  We did a google image search and found two random pictures of girls online who looked similar and added those to her profile.  Over the next few days we requested to be friends with tons of people, created status updates, and whatever else you use to do on myspace.  After a week or two, I (or should I say Brooke) requested to be friends with Kaden.  He promptly accepted.  I then sent him a message telling him how attractive he was and how much I wanted to meet him and hang out with him.  He would always respond and showed a lot of interest in this random girl he had met online.  These messages back and forth went on for only a few days before it all hit the fan.  At some point he wanted to meet her and I obliged.  But before the meeting took place, and to this day I do not know how, he found out that I was behind Brooke and that he had been talking to me all along.  Since he had not shared anything too intimate or personal with Brooke, he was nothing more than a little embarrassed and the story ends there.  But for me, it was worth it, he never talked crap to me again because he knew that doing so would risk this story coming out.
So how does this relate to Manti Te'o?  If we put Manti in Kaden's place, I believe that it is very likely that at some point, Manti was fooled and was the victim of a hoax.  But even though my hoax was much less elaborate and did not include twitter messages or phone calls, after a short time, Kaden knew that something was fishy and that he had been duped. So how is it possible that Manti Te'o could fall victim to a year long prank?  I have to believe that Te'o, even if he was fooled to start off with, could not be naive enough to believe this girl was real for an entire year.
My second story is about a basketball player from the University of Arizona who did suffer a real and unbelievable tragedy.  Kevin Parrom, who is currently a Senior guard for the Wildcats and is having a great season, did not fare so well the summer before his junior year.  Within the space of a few months, Parrom was shot in the leg and had both his mother and grandmother pass away.  I cannot imagine something so tragic happening.  But unless you are a fan of Arizona basketball it is very likely that you never heard about Kevin Parrom and his tragedy.  I understand that some people are very public with the details of their personal life other people like to keep their personal lives personal.  In the case of Kevin Parrom, his devastation was not a headline story on College Gameday.  Like Te'o, Parrom was playing for a top tier team.  Arizona may not have quite the same pageantry and tradition of Notre Dame, but it has been among the elite college basketball programs in the country for now 4 decades.  I tend to think that most people suffering from such horrendous circumstances would not want to do newspaper, phone, and TV interviews.  I understand that Te'o did not go out of his way to seek such publicity, it came as part of playing for such a famous team, but if he did in reality lose his grandmother and girlfriend in the same day, I can only imagine that he would want to grieve in private, and not in front of an American audience.  I am not suggesting that Te'o was involved from the beginning and that he helped to create this fake girl with the goal of obtaining more publicity, but again, it just doesn't make sense and we are only left to assumptions.
I want to believe that Te'o was the victim and not one of the culprits.  With my whole heart, I want to believe that we do not live in a world that is filled with liars and deceivers.  I am not yet going to brand Te'o as a liar nor will I brand him as a naive kid who got caught in the middle of an awful prank.  I too will have to wait until more details emerge.  But all I can say is that from what has come to light, everything is not adding up and Te'o has a lot of questions to answer.

2012 Year in Review

It is 4 days into the new year, 2013.  So I may be a little bit late, but I wanted to take a look back at 2012 and highlight of few of the exciting things that happened last year.  For me, it was one of the wildest and craziest, yet most exciting years I have ever had.  Actually, 8 of the 12 months were fairly normal, just day to day living.  But the 4 months from April to July were some of the craziest of my life.  I crammed as many life changing experiences as I possibly could into those 4 months.  First I graduated college at the beginning of April, two weeks later I got married, followed up shortly by moving to a new city, San Francisco, and to top it all off I started my first real job out of college.
I could write an entire article about all the ups and the downs of my personal life in 2012, but that is not the point of this blog.  I am here to write about sports and sports only.  So instead of me giving you the details about my wedding or what it was like to look for an apartment in a city we had never been to, lets look back on 2012 from a sports prospective.  I want to focus on my top 5 memories of the year in sports.  I could have included many different things that happened this year like the most boring college football national championship game ever played, or an average quarterback, Eli Manning, miraculously winning another Super Bowl over one of the games all-time greatest, or even my new home town team winning their second World Series in three years and what it was like to attend their parade in downtown San Francisco, but I did not pick any of those moments.  Instead I picked 5 moments that made me remember why sports are so special.  In a world that is so full of sadness and tragedy, sports have the ability to bring so much happiness and joy.  These 5 moments gave me a great sports high, and reminded me of when I was a kid in Tucson.  When I was younger, my parents encouraged me to keep a journal.  I have since found that journal and after reading through it found that it includes nothing of great significance from my childhood, instead it is full of my experiences with sports and my favorites teams.  These 5 moments, my top 5 moments of the year, are what I would call "journal worthy" moments.  But instead of writing them in my own personal journal, I am putting them on the blog.  So lets begin:

5.  April 21 and August 15
 This is a two part experience and one that I did not live personally, but I lived it vicariously through my brother-in-law, Michael.  On April 21, I was not focused on sports, instead, I was doing other things, like getting married.  But after the wedding, we went home to my wife's family home to rest before the reception. As we got home, her brother Michael was watching a Mariner's game, which he did almost every day.  But he did not have a happy look on his face, instead he looked sad and upset.  We soon realized that the opposing pitcher for the White Sox, Phillip Humber, was on the verge of pitching a perfect game against the Mariners.  Michael was devastated.  This is the kind of thing that is exciting to see happen when it happens to any team except your own.  When it was all done, Humber did throw a perfect game.  I did not think too much of it and just went on with the rest of my day.
Four months later on August 15, I was at work when I got a text from Michael telling me that Felix Hernandez, the Mariner's ace was in the 6th inning of a perfect game.  I was shocked that he would tell me, assuming that verbally acknowledging it would jinx it.  But I guess a text is not a verbal acknowledgment.  To make it even better, Michael was at the game sitting in King Felix's cheering section.  Hernandez did throw a perfect game and all the sadness that Mike had experienced month's earlier when it happened to his team was instantly sucked away and spit back out as an overwhelming feeling of happiness and satisfaction.  After the game and over the next few days, Michael and I talked about what it was like to be at a perfect game.  As I saw how happy he was, it reminded me of the joy sports can bring into someone's life.  He still to this day, months later, feels so much pride that he got to be there for such a historical event.  So much so that for Christmas, his mom framed his King Felix shirt and "K" sign that he was given for sitting in his cheering section along with his ticket, and the Seattle Times newspaper from the next day. On Christmas day, there was smoke and a funny smell in the upstairs of their home and we all needed to evacuate in case of a fire.  In the heat of the moment, Michael only had time to grab one thing from burning in the fire, he grabbed his frame which will always be a reminder of that special day he experienced.  Luckily, there was no fire, but it was good to see what was most important to him.

4. November 29

When I was younger I decided that when I got married there were only two requirements for my future bride: first, that she like sports, and second, that she like Mountain Dew.  I will admit that I took girls on dates simply because they met one or both of those requirements.  When I met my now wife, I soon learned that even though she liked sports, she was not as much of a fanatic as I am and she also prefers Dr. Pepper over Mountain Dew.  But I guess all her other qualities made up for lacking those other two.  She grew up cheering for the teams in Seattle, but mostly because her brothers and dad cheered for them.  But none of them were into basketball so she knew little to nothing about the sport.  I on the other hand grew up in a town where basketball was king.  I had tried to watch both college and NBA games with my wife Stephanie, but she would lose interest in the games after a few minutes would spend the rest of the time on Pinterest.  On November 29 I took her to her second Warriors game at Oracle Arena.  The first game was fun, but probably did not create a lasting memory on her.  In preparation for her second game, I bought her a Warriors shirt, which, since she is a girl, made her happy to have new clothes.  She felt like she belonged there and fit in with the other fans.  The Warriors were playing the Nuggets to whom they had already lost twice earlier in the month.  Golden State fell behind early in the game by double digits and I was concerned that if they did not get back into the game, Steph may want to leave early to avoid traffic.  The Warriors did make a run and took the lead back half way through the 4th quarter.  The game went back and forth from that point on until with 3 seconds left, with the Warriors leading by 3, they fouled Andre Iguodala behind the 3 point line.  After he was fouled, he waived his hands in the air trying to sell that he was fouled in the act of shooting.  But he wasn't.  He was clearly fouled before he "took a shot:."  But the refs did not see it that way and awarded his acting skills with 3 free throws.  Iggy dropped in the first two before missing the third.  The ball was loose and eventually knocked out of bounds off of the Warriors but with only 0.7 seconds remaining on the clock.  Denver in-bounded the ball to Iguodala who pump faked and drained a long jumper giving the Nuggets the victory.  But this time, the referees could review the monitor to ensure they got the call right.  After what seemed to take several minutes, it was clear that the ball was still in his hands when the game clock expired and the Warriors won the game.  As we left the arena and took the train back to our car, Stephanie was so excited to the point that unless I were to slap her, her smile was not going to be taken from her face.  Since that game, she has become an NBA fan.  If there is ever a Warriors game on TV, she wants to watch it.  But not only does she watch it, she gets into it.  She knows all the players names gets so happy when the Warriors win. Her two favorite players are Steph Curry and David Lee.  Maybe because her first name is Steph and last name is Lee, but I like to think it is because she likes the way they play.  Seeing my wife develop a love for basketball was one of the best moments of my year.

3. April 4

On this day, my younger sister turned 20, but she was an ocean away in Hawaii, and sadly, I forgot to call her.  I hope she had a good day, but I know I sure did.  The day before I had taken my final test in college and was only lacking the diploma to become a college graduate.  When I woke up on the morning of the 4th, I did not have any plans for that night.  I assumed I would still be studying and taking finals, but I had finished 3 days earlier than I had anticipated.  So I decided I deserved a reward.  I was gonna go see my favorite NBA team, the Phoenix Suns play down in Salt Lake City against the Jazz.  The only problem was that I did not have tickets and I did not have anyone to go with me.  But I was not going to let that get in the way.  I called up my friend Kyle, who was at work and asked if he could find a way to take the rest of the day off to go with me to the game.  He had to ask his boss for permission, but miraculously, it was granted.  And thanks to stubhub.com, I was able to find us tickets for about $4 each.  We were on our way to the NBA.  A few hours later we found ourselves down in Utah mingled with my least favorite people in the world, Utah Jazz fans.  Of course since I was wearing a Suns jersey I got cursed at, booed at, yelled at, and more.  I did not want to leave that arena hearing even more taunts from the already annoying Jazz fans.  
The game was close from the opening tip and with the Suns leading by two with just over a minute to play, Channing Frye banked in a wild 3 right as the shot clock buzzer went off.  But the Jazz would score 5 unanswered points to tie the game with under 30 seconds remaining.  Nash then made a fade-away jumper to put the Suns back up by 2, but the Jazz would again respond and tie the game back up with under 10 seconds left.  But just as Nash always does, he came up clutch again hitting a leaner from the elbow to give the Suns a two point lead with 1.7 seconds on the clock.  The Jazz took a timeout to advance the ball to the front court and in-bounded the ball to C.J. Miles who took a desperation 3 from the corner.  He air balled it, but no one from the Suns blocked out Paul Milsap who tipped it in to tie the game.  But once again, the tip was after the clock had expired and the Suns were victorious.  There are two things that make me really happy: watching the Suns win and watching the Jazz lose.  I was so glad I got to experience both in the same night and walk out of the arena holding my head high.

Side note: my teams sure have gotten lucky with buzzer instant replay recently.

2. May 13
This day just happened to be Mother's Day and my dad's birthday.  But it was also an epic and unforgettable sports day.  But this game took place on the other side of the world in Manchester, England.  The title of English Premier League was up for grabs between the two Manchester teams, City and United.  Going into the final day of the season both teams were tied with 86 points, but City had the advantage in goal difference.  As long as Manchester City could beat Queens Park Rangers who were facing relegation, they would win their first title in England since 1968.  Going into the fixture, I was not worried about the game, I was sure that my favorite club, Manchester City, would win easily.  How could they possibly choke on the final day of the season against one of the worst teams in the league?
City took the lead in the 39th minutes as Pablo Zabaletta scored from the right side of the pitch just outside the six meter box.  That would be all the scoring in the first half as City went to the break with the lead.  But only 3 minutes into the second half, Joleon Lescott, the Man City defender, tried to clear the ball forward but instead headed the ball backwards right to a QPR player who stuck the ball with his right foot in stride into the back of the net.  The match was tied.  On this day, a tie would be counted as a loss for City who, unless they won the game, would lose the league title.  But things only got worse when in the 66th minute, QPR made a run down the left side of the pitch sending a ball into the box right as Jamie Mackie, the QPR midfielder arrived to meet the cross and head the ball into the goal.  Rangers took a 2-1 lead.

From that point on, Man City looked frustrated and deflated.  They could not connect on any of the balls into the box and although they got close on a few set pieces, no ball found the goal.  City would go into stoppage time still trailing by a goal.  Two minutes into stoppage time, David Silva sent a corner kick into the box and found one of City's few tall bodies, Edin Dzeko, who headed the ball into the goal.  City got a goal back, but their time was nearly up.  It seemed to be too little too late.  But just as City did not give up when they were trailing Manchester United by 8 points in the table, they were not going to give up in the final game of the season.  In the 4th minute of stoppage time, in what was sure to be City's final chance before the whistle blew, Sergio Aguero, who was completing his first year with the club, had possession of the ball outside of their 18 meter box.  He passed the ball down to the Italian, Mario Balotelli, at the top of the box, who fell down but was able to return the ball to Aguero as he made his move in stride.  Aguero dodged the first defender and moved to his right who then, falling away from the goal and off-balance, struck the ball with his right foot sending it past the QPR keeper and giving Manchester City the amazing victory and the title of the English Premier League.  It was and still is, the greatest Soccer match I have ever seen.  I have since watched the highlights and relived this experience over and over again.

1. December 15
This day was special in two different ways. The excitement started at 10:00 am when Arizona faced off with Nevada in the New Mexico bowl, the first bowl game of the 2012 season.  But all the excitement was gone fast as Nevada opened up a quick 21-0 lead.  But Arizona would respond by scoring three consecutive touchdowns to tie the game.  At half time, it looked like this was going to be a close game as Nevada took a 31-28 lead into the break.  But the second half did not go Arizona's way.  Nevada scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 17 point lead.  Arizona would score at the start of the 4th quarter to bring the lead down to 10, but could not get any sort of offensive momentum and threw an interception and had a punt on their following two possessions.  Nevada got the ball with just over 6 minutes remaining and in Arizona territory.  They milked the clock and took over 4 minutes to move the ball only 29 yards.  Nevada made a field goal taking a 13 point lead with only 1:48 remaining in the game.  It was over.  Arizona would have to score twice if they wanted to win the game.  But they had not been able to move the ball the entire second half and I had given up hope.

The Wildcats got the ball at their own 25 yard line and miraculously, Matt Scott, Arizona's quarterback was able to complete 5 straight passes and in just over a minute, Arizona scored a touchdown.  The extra point cut the Nevada lead down to 6, but unless the Cats could recover an onside kick, the game would be over.  But that was exactly what happened.  Arizona recovered the onside kick and 3 plays later, scored a second touchdown in less than a minute to tie the game.  They would add the extra point giving them a one point improbable victory.  I was absolutely shocked at what I had witnessed.  I watched the replay of the final 3 minutes over and over again unable to believe what I had just seen.  But that was only part one of this memorable day.
That night Arizona's basketball team which was undefeated and ranked 8th at the time, took on the number 5 and also undefeated Florida Gators in Tucson.  From the start of the game, Arizona looked out of sync and unable to match Florida.  Arizona trailed for the majority of the first half but was able to go on a mini run in the final minutes cutting the Gators lead to 3 at the break.  The second half was more of the same as Florida led by double digits.  Arizona was able to keep it close, but fell behind by 6 points with under a minute remaining.  As long as Florida kept executing their plays as they had and kept making free throws, they would win the game.  But the great thing about sports is that they do not always go as planned.  Arizona was able to make two free throws to cut the lead down to 4 and on the pursuing in-bounds play, Florida would turn the ball over giving the Cats a chance to reduce their deficit.  Soloman Hill drove to the hoop and made a layup.  Florida led by just 2.  Again as the Gators tried to pass the ball in, Arizona's defense came up with the steal and eventually Grant Jerrett, one of Arizona's freshman was fouled.  He would only make one of two free throws forcing the Wildcats to foul on Florida's next possession.  If Arizona had made a list of all the players they would not want to foul in this situation, Kenny Boynton would be at the top of that list.  But that's who the Cats fouled, sending the 90% free throw shooter to the line.  But a miracle happened again, Boynton missed the front end of the one-and-one and Arizona got the rebound.  The point guard Mark Lyons brought the ball up court and called a play for himself.  He drove the ball right and while leaning away from the basket, put up a shot over Florida's 6'9" center.  The ball banked in off the backboard giving Arizona the lead and the eventually victory.  What an amazing day it was to be an Arizona fan.   One of the most special days I can remember, it took me a few extra hours to sleep that night I was so exited.

I can only hope that 2013 can be as memorable of 2012 was.