Mar 13, 2008
Brian Roberts, 100 Percent All-Natural Guy
See, Brian Roberts really did just use steroids that one time, but he learned his lesson and isn't going to ever, ever do it again. I mean, the guy is eating nothing but organic foods. He can't be a steroid cheat, right? Right?!?
Something like a Civil War
It was a pretty tense day here at Your Face is a Sports Blog - Arizona St. was playing USC in the Pac-10 Tournament. The Fightin' McLanes were looking to get off the NCAA tournament bubble with a win, while USC was looking to jump up a seed or more in the NCAA tournament with a strong run in the Pac-10 tourney.
It was a close game all the way. I missed the first half (thanks for starting the game involving the local team at noon, Pac-10!), but snuck out to McDonald's and watched the second half there (how I wish this wasn't true).
Here's what everyone is going to talk about after the game - this play and foul call on Arizona St.'s Jeff Pendergraft within the final 30 seconds and the Sun Devils trailing by two:
First, let me state for the record: that was a terrible call. Pendergraft simply outjumped Davon Jefferson and made a great play. I'd be ticked if it happened to USC, too. And certainly the pressure is on Pac-10 officials since their twin fuck-ups in UCLA's games over the weekend.
But here's the thing: Arizona St. finished the game missing their final 10 shots from the field. They didn't make a field goal in the final nine and a half minutes of the game. In short, the Sun Devils, with their season possibly on the line, completely fell apart. It's hard to make a case for a team that's on the bubble when that is how they handle pressure. SI's Stewart Mandel agrees - he has them out of the tournament as of right now.
A final thought - I saw at least three very ticky-tack fouls called against USC in the second half that led to Arizona St. free throws. But the bottom line is that people don't remember the dodgy call on a outside jumper with five minutes left - they remember the bad call on the game-tying slam dunk with 15 seconds left.
It was a close game all the way. I missed the first half (thanks for starting the game involving the local team at noon, Pac-10!), but snuck out to McDonald's and watched the second half there (how I wish this wasn't true).
Here's what everyone is going to talk about after the game - this play and foul call on Arizona St.'s Jeff Pendergraft within the final 30 seconds and the Sun Devils trailing by two:
First, let me state for the record: that was a terrible call. Pendergraft simply outjumped Davon Jefferson and made a great play. I'd be ticked if it happened to USC, too. And certainly the pressure is on Pac-10 officials since their twin fuck-ups in UCLA's games over the weekend.
But here's the thing: Arizona St. finished the game missing their final 10 shots from the field. They didn't make a field goal in the final nine and a half minutes of the game. In short, the Sun Devils, with their season possibly on the line, completely fell apart. It's hard to make a case for a team that's on the bubble when that is how they handle pressure. SI's Stewart Mandel agrees - he has them out of the tournament as of right now.
A final thought - I saw at least three very ticky-tack fouls called against USC in the second half that led to Arizona St. free throws. But the bottom line is that people don't remember the dodgy call on a outside jumper with five minutes left - they remember the bad call on the game-tying slam dunk with 15 seconds left.
Another college basketball post-season tournament?
Looking on Fox Sports' Web site, I noticed a banner ad for something called the College Basketball Invitational, scheduled to start on March 18. Intrigued, I clicked on it (as you are welcome to do with my banner ads HINT HINT) and found this explanation:
"This event will feature 16 teams not playing in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and will secure an important opportunity for more deserving programs to have a postseason experience."
Don't we already have something like this called the NIT? Honestly, when you are the XFL in comparison to the freakin' NIT, you probably aren't that relevant. I can't really recall a lot of people saying "Yeah, the NCAA tournament is great, and I watch every NIT game, but I want more - if only there was another post-season tournament!"
Let's put it this way...after adding the College Basketball Invitational, there will be 113 teams involved in post-season play. That's out of a total of 341 Division I teams total. That means that almost one-third of all men's Division I teams will be playing in some form of the post-season this year.
But hey, it's good to know that those teams who were snubbed by the NIT will have a place to play in March. I'm sure they'll be extremely motivated.
"This event will feature 16 teams not playing in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and will secure an important opportunity for more deserving programs to have a postseason experience."
Don't we already have something like this called the NIT? Honestly, when you are the XFL in comparison to the freakin' NIT, you probably aren't that relevant. I can't really recall a lot of people saying "Yeah, the NCAA tournament is great, and I watch every NIT game, but I want more - if only there was another post-season tournament!"
Let's put it this way...after adding the College Basketball Invitational, there will be 113 teams involved in post-season play. That's out of a total of 341 Division I teams total. That means that almost one-third of all men's Division I teams will be playing in some form of the post-season this year.
But hey, it's good to know that those teams who were snubbed by the NIT will have a place to play in March. I'm sure they'll be extremely motivated.