March Madness Preview No. 3

The third in a continuing series of updates on all 31 conferences that will send teams to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Today, we will take a look at the Big West Conference and the Colonial Athletic Assn.

• BIG WEST CONFERENCE: I can't lie and say that I haven't been watching Cal State Fullerton with one eye this season, wondering if THIS would be the season they make it back to the tournament. The Titans were predicted to win the conference, and while they've had a good season, they won't finish on top. That spot goes to Long Beach State, which clinched the regular-season title when Fullerton laid an egg Saturday in their home finale and lost to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Long Beach also seems to be the type of team that can win games at fast or slow paces. The 49ers have four players averaging in double figures, led by guards Aaron Nixon (pictured, 17.4 ppg) and Kejuan Johnson (15.6 ppg). And you know what they say about strong guards and success in the NCAA tournament? Fullerton also has a strong guard in senior Bobby Brown, pictured right, (20.2 ppg) and the Titans have five players averaging double figures in scoring in an up-tempo offense. Cal Poly SLO has been playing better lately and surely any team can beat anyone else, evidenced by Fullerton's loss to last-place UC Riverside and Long Beach's losses to middle-of-the-pack UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge. PREDICTED BIDS (1): Long Beach State (painful as that is for me to admit).


• COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSN.: This league has four teams with 20 or more victories but figures to only get one NCAA bid. The class of the league is Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion, although Hofstra and Drexel are quite capable as well. VCU clinched the regular-season title after a narrow victory over Georgia State on Saturday and finished with a 16-2 league record. Leading the way is senior guard B.A. Walker, pictured above, (15.6 ppg) and sophomore guard Eric Maynor (13.7 ppg). VCU's best out-of-conference victory is a 102-84 win over Houston, but otherwise the Rams played a rather weak schedule. Old Dominion, which split its games against VCU, is led by Lithuanian senior forward Valdas Vasylius, pictured left, (16.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and senior guard Drew Williamson (11.2 ppg, 4.7 apg). Old Dominion has an early-season road victory over Georgetown, which is one of the nation's most impressive teams at the moment. The Monarchs are on an 11-game winning streak since dropping consecutive games to James Madison and VCU in mid-January. Hofstra and Drexel are frequent tournament teams so it wouldn't be a surprise to see either pull an upset in the conference tournament to earn the automatic bid. PREDICTED BIDS (1): Old Dominion.

COMING UP NEXT: Conference USA, Horizon League.

Classic-al Nike Commercial

I don't know what it is about classical or operatic music, but it goes so well when it's set to sports highlights. It can be even better when the environment is controlled, such as the latest commercial for the XX2 Nike Air Jordan shoes. It's been showing for the last few weeks, but I think it's great. All the emotions, expressions and pain and suffering that can go along with the result of a sporting event are tremendous. Yeah, I know it's over-dramatized, but it's still enjoyable. The one below is the long version with a part of Mozart's Requiem serving as the background. There is a short version of the commercial as well, but it's no nearly as effective.

Death Of Dennis Johnson

Former Boston Celtics guard Dennis Johnson, a thorn in the side of the Lakers for many years in the 1980s, died today of an apparent heart attack in Texas. Johnson was coaching in the NBA D-League and had aspirations of moving up the coaching ladder. The guy was only 52. Dennis Johnson was always one of those guys that I wanted to hate, but it was hard. Of course, just being a Celtic was enough justification in many eyes, but Johnson was never a showy player or much of a talker and actually seemed likable if you took away the Laker-Celtic rivalry. His sleepy eyes belied his killer instinct. He also was a local guy. Born in San Pedro, went to Dominguez High in Compton, led Harbor City College to a state JC championship and eventually attended Pepperdine. I still remember where I was when he made the jumper at the buzzer to beat the Lakers in Game 4 of the 1985 NBA Finals at the Forum. I was playing Colt League baseball for "Dog-It" (our sponsor, an old hot-dog stand/fast-foot place that was eventually bought out so they could put in a rent-a-car business on Rosemead Boulevard near Mission Drive). I don't remember if it was before the game or after, but we had a radio and were listening to Chick Hearn call the final seconds... "Pass out to Dennis Johnson at the top of the key ... 20-footer.... goooooood!!!! Celtics win!" ... Perhaps it wasn't those exact words, but you get the idea. Also, remember it was Johnson who made the layup when the Celtics came back late to beat the Pistons in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference finals. Remember Johnny Most's call (in your most raspy voice): "Ah, there's a steal by Bird ... underneath to D.J., lays it in!!!!" Johnson also was the MVP of the 1979 NBA Finals when he led the Seattle SuperSonics. Dennis Johnson was one of the most underrated NBA players of all time and it's terrible that he died at such a young age. RIP DJ.

There's A Good Reason

OK, sorry that I haven't posted anything in about a week and I apologize if you've been checking here to no avail. I was really busy Tuesday and then was off work on Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday morning, Marge and I were in a car accident. I don't want to call it minor because it wasn't, but we weren't seriously injured either thankfully. I don't really want to elaborate more than that publicly, but suffice to say we have spent the last few days recovering from the trauma and the soreness that has ensued. Anyway, I'd be glad to answer your questions if you're interested. Just send me an e-mail. Otherwise, I hope to begin posting again either later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for reading and talk to you soon.

Devils Are Down In Durham

In honor of the Duke men's basketball team falling out of the Associated Press top 25 for the first time since the end of the 1995-96 season with the Blue Devils in the midst of a four-game losing streak and a sub-.500 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, we offer the picture below, created by a Maryland fan, for your enjoyment, especially in light of our love for the most recent Geico commercials.

Duke had been in the media poll for 200 consecutive weeks. What's even sweeter is that the longest streak is held by UCLA at 221 weeks, from the 1966-67 preseason until Jan. 8, 1980. But even the UCLA team that was responsible for the streak ending went on to reach the NCAA championship game that same season led by four freshmen named Rod Foster, Darren Daye, Michael Holton and Mike Sanders, a senior named Kiki Vandeweghe, and a coach by the name of Larry Brown, only to lose to former John Wooden assistant, Denny Crum, and Louisville, 59-54, which was led by Darrell "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith.

March Madness Preview No. 2

The second in a continuing series of updates on all 31 conferences that will send teams to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Today, we will take a look at the Big Sky and Big South conferences.

• BIG SKY CONFERENCE: Weber State currently holds first place with a one-game lead over Montana, but the teams are tied in the loss column with four, and three other teams are within a loss as well. Weber State is hardly a lock, so the conference tournament could deliver any of a number of teams to represent the Big Sky in March. Northern Arizona is another potential team, and Eastern Washington, despite its 6-8 conference record, could be dangerous if high-scoring guard Rodney Stuckey (24.6 ppg) gets hot at the right time. Getting back to Weber, the Wildcats do it with a team concept that seems to work well in a tournament setting. David Patten (pictured), who recently had his nose broken but came back to play with a mask, leads the way at 14.1 ppg. Weber has five other players averaging 7.9 points or more. Montana has a road victory over Big Ten Minnesota to its credit, and plays at Weber State in a critical game Wednesday. The Grizzlies are led by forward-center Andrew Strait (15.6 ppg) and forward Jordan Hasquet (12.8 ppg). Northern Arizona, once coached by Ben Howland, is led by the trio of Tyrone Bazy (16.0 ppg), Ruben Boykin (16.0) a former star at Fairfax High, and Stephen Sir (14.9 ppg) a transfer from San Diego State. The Lumberjacks beat Arizona State but got blown out by Arizona early in the season. Northern Arizona also lost to UNLV by 40 on Dec. 2 and even lost to what has turned out to be a bad Pepperdine team, so it's difficult to gauge their chances. PREDICTED BIDS (1): Weber State.
  


• BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE: Winthrop seems to be the runaway winner here and hopefully can avoid stumbling in its conference tournament since there do not seem to be other worthy teams to take its place in the field of 65 other than maybe High Point. Winthrop is 21-4 overall and 11-0 in conference. Winthrop already beat High Point on the road and plays host to the return game on Feb. 20. In addition to its conference success, Winthrop has also played a weighty nonconference schedule. How's this for some quality losses: at North Carolina (73-66), at Maryland (70-61), at Wisconsin (82-79), at Texas A&M (71-51). Only one blowout in the bunch, and the Eagles also have these wins: at Mississippi State (74-63), at Northern Illinois (72-62) and at East Carolina (69-50). Junior guard Michael Jenkins (pictured) leads a balanced attack (15.9 ppg), which is complemented by senior guard Torrell Martin (14.1 ppg) and forward-center Craig Bradshaw (12.2 ppg) from New Zealand. If High Point is to have a chance at unseating Winthrop, it will need a career effort down the stretch from Arizona "AZ" Reid, a 6-5 junior forward who averages 21.0 points. PREDICTED BIDS (1): Winthrop.

COMING UP NEXT: Big West and Colonial Athletic Assn.

March Madness Preview No. 1

Starting today, with Selection Sunday a mere four Sundays from now, I will be posting updates on college basketball leading up to the spectacle that is March Madness. I'll try to cover a conference or two (or three even) each day or so and hopefully that will leave a decent backlog of information in case anyone wants to go back and look at things. I'll start with the smaller conferences, the ones usually expected to receive only one bid, and go from there. So without further adieu:

• AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE: Vermont, no stranger to the NCAA tournament, seems poised to grab this conference's only bid. The Catamounts will have to win the conference tournament to secure the bid, but they definitely took a good step with a four-point victory over second-place Albany on Sunday. The only negative is that now Vermont might have to beat Albany a third time to win the conference tourney, and we all know the saying about beating a team three times in one season. In addition to its 11-1 conference mark, Vermont also boasts an early-season road victory over then-No. 15 Boston College. The Catamounts also have losses at Maryland and Michigan State so it's not as if they've played a bad schedule. On the other hand, they've also had losses to Towson and Harvard, which isn't expected to make it out of the Ivy League. Vermont is led by the Italian twosome of guard Mike Trimboli (15.2 ppg), pictured, and forward Joe Trapani (14.7), although Trapani is out with an injured foot but should be back for the tournament. As mentioned, Albany is probably the only other team with a realistic chance to snatch the bid. The Great Danes (I love the nickname) has a quality win over Bucknell, won at Harvard and even won at Utah, which isn't the same it was under Rick Majerus but still is a quality program. On the down side, Albany has losses to Sacred Heart, Siena, and lost by 32 to then-No. 18 Connecticut. The Great Danes are led by guards Jamar Wilson (17.9 ppg) and Jason Siggers (14.2 ppg). PREDICTED BIDS (1): Vermont.

• ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE: East Tennessee State leads the way here with a two-game lead over second-place Belmont. The Buccaneers are not infallible though. One of their losses was to middle-of-the-pack Jacksonville last week, as well as a loss to Belmont at home. ETSU, though, bounced back from the Belmont home loss and beat Belmont on the road by 10 points. ETSU also played Tennessee tough in Knoxville, losing 93-88, in late December. Among the "bad" losses are those to Morehead State and Sam Houston State, as well as 42-point loss at Vanderbilt. ETSU is led by guard Courtney Pigram (16.6 ppg). Belmont seems to be the only team with a realistic chance at snagging the bid from ETSU. PREDICTED BIDS (1): East Tennessee State.

COMING UP NEXT: Big Sky and Big South.

UCLA Starting Early On This One

Ever since Ben Howland (pictured left) took over at UCLA three seasons ago, respect for the program has risen steadily to the point that the Bruins are once again major players in the national scene every season. As I said in the previous post, I attended the UCLA-USC game Wednesday night at Pauley. Afterward, I hung around the arena with my brother, son and niece and one of my son's friends and his father. The kids were off taking pictures with players, getting autographs, etc. Matt even got Howland to sign the back of his UCLA jersey after Howland wrapped up a radio interview. Even though he needed to get home to pack for a road trip to West Virginia this weekend, Howland hung around to sign autographs, talk to fans, and never seemed in a hurry to get out of there. But then I noticed Howland talking to a group of people who were surrounding a rather tall young man. My brother and I were steps away from this conversation, desperately trying to overhear what was being said. Howland worked the circle of people effectively and the young kid, who obviously was an invited guest, seemed impressed. I strained to read his name tag and finally made out that it said "Jeremy Tyler" although I couldn't tell what school he was from. Turns out that Jeremy Tyler is a freshman (a freshman!!!) at San Diego High School and he is considered by some to be the best freshman in the country. Tyler is a 6-10 center. Here is one link that mentions him. And this one from a New York-based recruiting website, no less. Can't wait to follow the progress on this one. Should be interesting.

It's Good To Be A Bruin

Went to the UCLA-USC basketball game last night and boy was it a good night. The No. 2 Bruins trailed for most of the game but still managed to grit out another victory, 70-65, over their hated rivals. The "Just Like Football" chants emanating from the student section were music to my ears. I don't remember Pauley Pavilion sounding as loud as it did last night. When I was a student there, I do remember some big games. Once when No. 1 North Carolina came to town with J.R. Reid leading the way. Another was when No. 1 Louisville came in and was stunned by a very average UCLA team when "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison was called for goaltending a Pooh Richardson runner at the buzzer. It was the only time in my life that I rushed the court and celebrated. And of course, there were those great Arizona teams led by Sean Elliott that always came in highly touted and generated enthusiasm. But as far as atmosphere and buzz, last night's crowd would be hard to top. The students filled the bottom level and also stretched across the top section, and all were wearing Bruin blue shirts and pretty much on their feet the entire game. I was sitting behind one of the baskets with my brother, son and niece, in the second row from the top, and even those people around us were standing a number of times during the game. My son Matt even complained this morning on the way to school that his throat hurt. I asked him if he was getting sick, and he said, "No Dad, it's from yelling so much last night." And what made the victory even sweeter is that UCLA didn't even play that well but still found a way -- a trait that is becoming ever more permanent with this bunch. The Bruins were awful in the first half and yet still only trailed by one point at the intermission. It wasn't until the last five minutes or so that the Bruins finally took the lead for the first time (That's the picture you see above when Arron Afflalo got loose on a break and dunked. (Also had to post the photo [to the right] when he hit the winning jumper to beat the Trojans last month in the first-ever UCLA-USC game at the Galen Center). That sent the crowd into a frenzy and I swear I felt as if were about to pass out so I had to stop and collect myself before I could enjoy things again. Anyway, it all ended well except for the freakin' USC band, which refused to leave Pauley until well after everything was over, thinking they needed to "serenade" everyone. It was ridiculous. Get outta the building a-holes! Also, to all the SC honks complaining that the refs were out to get the Trojans based on the 31-5 disparity in free-throw attempts, get over it. Do you idiots realize that 13 of those 31 attempts (THIRTEEN, I SAY!) came in the last 1 minute 9 seconds of the game? THIRTEEN!!! That's because SC was trailing and HAD to foul. And when you foul late in a game, it leads to free throws. Are you following this Trojan morons? Maybe it would be better for you to worry about the lack of discipline by your own Lodrick Stewart, who got called for a technical foul with 4:19 left when only seconds before his team was leading the game. Stewart was mad that UCLA's Josh Shipp made a driving layup to tie the score at 52-52 and Stewart's USC teammate Nick Young was called for a foul. Stewart got the ball and spiked it with two hands without making any attempt to stop it from soaring 30 feet into the air. When you do that you leave the ref no choice but to call a technical. And of course afterward he was all man and ready to take the blame, right? "I don't even want to talk about that," Stewart whined. Wrong answer McFly! I'm sure this is exactly the kind of senior leadership Tim Floyd envisioned. Still, I wouldn't want to play USC in the tournament. Despite my feelings toward their fans and the aforemetioned incidents with Stewart and free throws, the Trojans play hard and make life difficult for any team. But it sure is sweet to sweep!

Breaking Down The Birthday

In case some of you didn't know, today is my birthday. No, I'm not fishing for well wishes or any of that sentimental crap so don't feel obligated. During a conversation with my brother earlier, he informed me that I share a birthday -- exact year as well -- with Bobby Brown. You can imagine how that made me feel. Yes, the former singer in New Edition, the one-time husband of Whitney Houston and the crossover reality TV star and I were born on the exact same day in 1969. I think I had heard that before but had put it out of my mind for some reason (wonder why?). As I'm sure we all do, we usually know the famous people we share birthdays with and like to bring them up when our special day comes. My favorites are Hank Aaron, Roger Staubach and Christopher Guest. Anyway, at the suggestion of my aforementioned brother, I thought I'd start a tradition here to involve some of my most loyal readers (which I guess means anyone who ever passes by; who am I kidding?) and blog a little about other fun facts regarding birthdays. For example, I didn't know until today that I also share this birthday with Duff McKagan, the former bassist for Guns N' Roses. Cool! Anyway, here are some other of my category winners for Feb. 5:

• Most notorious: Mark Furhman. The former police detective best known for his "work" on the O.J. Simpson case. Now residing in that cultural melting pot of Idaho.
• Life of the party: Well, since I can't vote for myself, I'd say that SNL veterans Tim Meadows and Chris Parnell qualify here. Even Christopher Guest would be good although I've heard he's gotten a bit stuffy in his later years. I mean, the man turned 59 today for crying out loud.
• Actor types: Red Buttons and John Carradine fit the bill here.
• Chick actors who I wouldn't mind hanging with: Jennifer Jason Leigh (before she went crazy in that roommate movie. "Fast Times at Ridgmont High" is about right), Laura Linney and Barbara Hersey (pre-Hoosiers perhaps when she was in "Boxcar Bertha" although she looks pretty darn milfy in this photo to the left.).
• Loser politician: Adlai Stevenson (two-time Democratic nominee for president). I always remember that "Happy Days" episode when Richie was trying to impress a girl so he worked for the Stevenson campaign, which pissed off his dad who was a staunch supporter of Ike.
• Other athlete types: Roberto Alomar (you probably remember him most for spitting in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck). Carlos Tevez (young rising Argentine soccer phenom, who was South America's player of the year from 2003-05 and just turned 23 today).
• Six degrees of separation: John Guare. Who's he you ask? This is the actual guy who wrote the play "Six Degrees of Separation." How's that for trivia? Tricked you with the intro didn't I?
• Obscure but noteworthy: Cory Wells. He was a singer in Three Dog Night. Who amongst us has never belted out, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog!!" in the shower?
• Name you know but don't think about very often: Norton Simon. Yes, the namesake for the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, or better known as the long dark brown building in the background during the Rose Parade.

Well, I'll spare the links to these people and things since I know there are only so many minutes in the day, but I hope this was a little bit entertaining for you. Like I said, I will do this as birthdays come up so keep reading.

Obligatory Super Bowl Post

The Indianapolis Colts just defeated the Chicago Bears, 29-17, to win Super Bowl 41 (remember what I said about Roman numerals earlier) and I just want to say I'm happy for Peyton Manning now that he's finally won the Big One. I've always liked the guy and really have never understood why there are so many negative feelings directed toward him by fans, media, etc. To me, he just seems like a good person that genuinely is humble, and what more can you ask for from a superstar athlete these days? I remember watching him in college when Tennessee came to play UCLA at the Rose Bowl in 1994. Manning was a true freshman and was one of three quarterbacks who played that day after senior Jerry Colquitt went down with a season-ending knee injury seven plays into his career as starter. Colquitt had waited five years to be the starter behind Heath Schuler, who had finished second for the Heisman Trophy the season before and now is a U.S. congressman. After the game, Manning said of Colquitt's injury: "I can't believe that happened. That's the worst thing I can imagine, because Jerry's the hardest-working guy on this team and nobody deserves success more than he does." Now, to me that sounds like something Manning would say now about a teammate, but here he was uttering these words as an 18-year-old. I think it speaks volumes for the kind of person he was then and what he is now. Incidentally, UCLA won that game, 25-23, although Tennessee rallied from an 18-0 deficit to make it close. But, incidentally, it wasn't Manning who brought the Volunteers back that day, it was Todd Helton. Yes, that Todd Helton, (pictured at right) who went on to become one of the best pure hitters in Major League Baseball. Helton led Tennessee on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, but the Volunteers fell short. Manning took over for good the next season and the rest of history. Now there's a street named after him in Tennessee and his commercial endorsements are the perfect evidence that the guy has stayed true to his humble nature and doesn't take himself too seriously. Now, he's a Super Bowl champion and won't have to carry that unfair burden of not being a big-game player. Way to go Peyton, you deserve it.

Welcome Jackson Cole!

Here at EM, we are all about family and friends, so in that tradition we'd like to welcome baby Jackson Cole into the world. Little JC was born early this morning after a long labor for his mommy and we take great pride in being the first place in Cyberspace (at least I think we are) to document his arrival. The picture here is NOT, repeat NOT, of the little one but we think this kid is doing a good impression of how little Action Jackson's papa is going to be feeling for about... hmmm.... I don't know.... the next 18 years or so? If past history, family legacy and a powerful gene pool are any indication, this certainly won't be the last time you see young Jack's name on the Internet. We'll say it right now that we expect that in about 2022 or so, you'll start hearing about a rising basketball phenom tearing it up for his high school team on his way to a lucrative career in hoops. Maybe by then they'll be writing about sixth-graders, so young Jackson's name could turn up even sooner. But no pressure Jack baby! It's all good. Being that my own birthday is a mere two days away, I already feel a kinda "first-week-of-February" kinship with the little one so I'll be here to watch his progress every step of the way. Congrats Pat and Cynthia!

Sarah Silverman Makes Me Laugh

Those of you who know me remember that, in general, I am NOT a fan of female comediens (or is it comediennes?). But I do make one giant exception when it comes to Sarah Silverman. I have long been a fan of hers since before all this latest publicity blitz of the last few years where she fast became known as Jimmy Kimmel's girlfriend (bastard!) to the uninitiated, so I ain't no bandwagoner. I saw Sarah perform her one-woman show "Jesus Is Magic" at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills a few years back and literally sat within spitting distance of her in the front row. It was amazing. She even looked me in the eye a few times (at least that's how I remember it). Anyway, Sarah's new show debuts on Comedy Central tonight at 10:30 p.m. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to about and I don't really care since with Sarah it's never easy to decipher, but I will make sure to be a regular watcher. To me, Sarah is one of those love-her-or-hate-her comedians. It's really easy to be annoyed and to pshaw your way through one of her shows or acts, but that's a simplistic approach. It's also easy to be offended if you take her at face value, but that also would be a gigantic mistake since Sarah seems to be so layered and requires more than a cursory glance to be appreciated. She's definitely one of those entertainers that really make you think and sometimes it takes more than one viewing or listening to "get" her. I'm certainly not trying to convert anyone here because I love her regardless of what you hacks may think, but if you have some time give her a chance and you too might be seduced. Here are a few video clips, although some of them are not safe for work considering some of the language and subject matter so be careful.

Many racial insults in this song but thought-provoking nonetheless:

This is from the Comedy Central roast of Hugh Hefner:

Another funny song:

Part of a stand-up routine. Again, irreverent, irreverent stuff:

Finally, here is a link to a good article on Sarah that appeared in today's Los Angeles Times.