Hump Day Headlines

In this April Fool's Edition of Hump Day Headlines, no fooling anyone in the AP All American Picks, the Broncos have finally decided to trade Jay Cutler, coaches not named John Calipari get new deals, and how far did the Notre Dame basketball program fall in just one year...

• The AP First Team All-American team was announced yesterday, and all five picks seem obvious to me. Oklahoma's Blake Griffin was a unanimous pick (shocker!), while North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Davidson's Stephen Curry, Pittburgh's DeJuan Blair, and Arizona State's James Harden rounded out the rest of the first team. All five players are obviously deserving, and they show that while the college game has lost some great players to the NBA, there are still some fantastic players at the top in college basketball. How good these guys will be at the next level? It's hard to say. Blake Griffin will probably be the top pick in the draft, and figures to be an impact player right away. Scott was clearly not impressed with James Harden. Tyler Hansbrough's draft status is unclear, Steph Curry may or may not go pro this year (and if he does, is he the next J.J. Redick?) and DeJuan Blair might be too short to be an impact player as a back to the basket 6'7" forward. Whether they're good or not though at the professional level, let's enjoy the fact we got to watch these guys be great college hoopsters. As an avid college hoops fan, I enjoyed watching all of them.
• The Denver Broncos soap opera released its latest episode today: the news that they will in fact deal their star quarterback somewhere. Jay Cutler will be on the move, and it appears that there are at least six teams that will be involved in some capacity to try and acquire the Pro Bowler's services. The Jets, Buccaneers, Bears, Lions, 49ers and Browns are all apparently interested, and the Jaguars "may" be interested. (You know who I'm rooting for in that sweepstakes.) There are also reports circulating that the Redskins might be interested even though they have Jason Campbell. Before you start complaining that this story is getting annoying, let me remind you one simple fact: at least we're not talking about T.O. or the Cowboys.
• Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson was awarded with a new seven year contract worth between 1.3 and 1.5 million dollars per year. This comes after he impressively took the Tigers to the Elite Eight this season. The former UAB head man has shown why he always had the Blazers competing down there and now at a bigger school his coaching efforts have realized their potential. Good for him. Another coach rewarded for his success was former Washington State head coach Tony Bennett, who has moved on to the ACC and the University of Virginia. Bennett will be paid $1.7 million annually after he lead Wazzu to a 68-30 record in three seasons out west. People need to start getting used to the fact that the football and basketball coaches are now the highest paid people at many Division I Universities.
• Finally, remember when Notre Dame was a top ten team at the beginning of this college basketball season? This must seem like eons ago, because the Fighting Irish finished off a highly disappointing season by losing in the NIT Semifinals to Penn State. Notre Dame finished just 21-15, and Mike Brey must be searching for answers after he had second team all-American Luke Harangody (overrated, but still) Kyle McAlarney, Ryan Ayers and Tory Jackson on that team. Far too much talent to finish the way they did. Maybe Mr. Mock-Turtle himself should be considered for the hot seat? What a horrific year for Notre Dame sports teams. First more mediocrity from Chuck Weis, now this.

Sweet Turns Sour

I'll still watch the rest of the tournament.  I have already professed my love for the college hoops festival that is March Madness on this forum.

But Syracuse's loss to Oklahoma in the Sweet Sixteen turned my tournament experience from sweet to sour.  It's not really that I'm upset.  I'm just disappointed.  I'm disappointed at how poorly Syracuse played and how they failed to show their talent on the grandest stage.  For the first time, my school went deep in the tournament, and now their run is over.

Like Scott has mentioned in the podcast and in a post last week, it's satisfying just to know that this team made it to the Sweet Sixteen.  I expected less at the beginning of the year.  So the reality of seeing them in this game tonight was enough.  Really.

Yet I raced home from work, listening to the game on the radio as I weaved through highway traffic like Jeff Gordon at Daytona, (like the NASCAR reference?  Honestly, it took me a couple seconds to think of a driver to use here.) and made it to the sports bar with four minutes left in the first half.  I saw the Orange down by four at the time, and then watched their deficit balloon to thirteen at halftime.

The second half was just heartbreaking.  Oklahoma's lead swelled and I learned that Betty Crocker not only is a great cook but she also has a jump shot.  Blake Griffin killed the Orange as was expected.  It wasn't an enjoyable experience.

When the game ended, I barely noticed.  My attention diverted to the other hoops games and the Blackhawks hockey game on the adjacent TV.  I sat through two baseball games Friday afternoon anticipating the opportunity to watch Syracuse play for a chance at the Elite Eight.  I didn't even watch it until the clock hit triple zeros.

And after a couple short hours, Syracuse's run was over.

That's how the tournament goes.  But it's tough when your team gets trounced.  Syracuse had a great year.  I know that.  They played the best college basketball game I have ever seen this year, won it, and went to the second weekend of March Madness.  Next week I'll be excited to watch the Final Four, no matter who advances.

For the rest of this weekend though, it's going to be tough to watch college basketball.  The Sweet Sixteen turned sour.

Scott & I Attended Syracuse At The Worst Time

As Scott previously mentioned, Syracuse is off to the Sweet Sixteen. Figures, it had to come the year after we graduated.

This doesn't mean I'm not ecstatic. It's great. For the first time, the school I attended is actually winning in the NCAA tournament. I could never say this before in my life.

But it's pathetic that in four years of school at a major university with a generally successful athletic department, the football team had its worst stretch in four years, the basketball team won exactly zero games in the NCAA tournament, and the lacrosse team which perennially wins NCAA championships didn't win one until we graduated and suffered their worst season in twenty-five years while we were there. (Then again, it's lacrosse, who cares.)

It's a bizarre feeling to watch this team, which we covered since before those guys were even in school, flourishing after we finished our careers covering them. We know so much about them as we had seen them playing every one of their college games prior to this year and many of them this season. Yet we're no longer there, watching from afar, as they finally flourish. As Scott might say, they're winning out of spite, just to mess with us.

Either way, I'm happy. I'm more than happy. I'm thrilled. And I'll tell you something right now. I like Syracuse to beat Oklahoma. We're taking down Blake Griffin. Can't wait till the next round.