Longwinded Recapping.
I have to tell you I've watched a LOT of basketball over the past week or so. If the recap seems a little basketball heavy, it's because it is. At least I'm not devoting a midweek post to it this wek, right? Silver lining?
ITEM ONE: The basketball we've seen thus far has been up and down. Thursday got a free pass because it was day one, but the games were mostly dreadful. Friday had some high points, but was still pretty lame, save for a couple good games, like the Illinois-Virginia Tech contest. Saturday, for those who didn't watch, was infused with enough action to give me a coronary. I'm lucky it didnt, frankly. Yesterday was a lot like Friday.
There are some teams and players I'm happy to still have around, like an exciting Oregon team who is an interesting addition to the sweet 16 this year. Additionally, I'm glad they are playing UNLV, but that's mostly because I picked the Runnin' Rebs to be in this game. I like Georgetown because they play a good, old school style of basketball, and Roy Hibbert looks like a lost Cosby kid. Additionally, I've become a huge Tyler Hansbrough fan, despite the fact that he plays in the ACC.
Of course, there are some teams and players out there that anger me at their continued existence. Joakim Noah. Aaron Gray and Pitt. Texas A&M. Ohio State. But there are plenty of teams out that I dislike that I can be happy about, like Notre Dame and Duke. Jered Dudley is no longer in the tournament, and that fills me with glee.
On the other hand Nick Fazekas and Nevada are no more, and my Purdue Boilermakers were dispatched by Joakim Noah and Florida. Also, my favorite name of the tournament, Ra'Sean Dickey and Georgia Tech were knocked off in the first round. The biggest loss for a lot of people was Texas and Kevin Durant.
What does this all lead to? Well, a vaguely bland sweet 16, but what should, at least, be high powered basketball.
ITEM TWO: Did the Wild play this week? They weren't on TV, so I'm not sure. Have they made the playoffs yet? Hmm... (One other hockey note, especially to ESPN. If you aren't going to cover hockey, you can go ahead and ignore the entire game without highlighting the one or two awful incidents a year. It makes it seem as though you are trying to paint the game as boorish and unwatchable, hoping the more civilized people will turn into the Strong Man competitions on your network instead of hockey, which wasn't really unpopular until you said it was. Oh. You ARE trying to make hockey unpopular so people will watch Strong Man instead? My fault! Don't let me tell you how to run your business then!)
ITEM THREE: One more time: Ra'Sean Dickey. I'm not sure what kills me about this name. It might be the silly, giggle inducing "Dickey". It could be the creative use of punctuation. I think its that they went with the Irish spelling of Sean in there. I don't think this name would have caught my attention if it was Ra'Shawn. Ok, maybe. That apostrophe is pretty funny.
ITEM FOUR: Not that I'm trying to make light of a an illness, especially one that claimed my grandfather last May, but David Wells has type 2 diabetes. Seriously, are we so out of shape in this country that our professional athletes, still playing the game even, are getting diabetes? Yeah, you read that right. David Wells is a professional athlete.
ITEM FIVE: A bit of sad news for the two or three people that may or may not have read my Valparaiso-UMKC recap from a couple months ago. One of the main characters in that game, Kansas City coach Rich Zvosec is now former coach Zvosec. And I never did learn to pronounce his name.
ITEM SIX: Let's cast another popular sport in a negative light, shall we? Newly Dolphined linebacker Joey Porter was arrested in Vegas after he came across Bengal Tackle Levi Jones at a blackjack table and the two had a scuffle. Well, as much scuffling as 500+ pounds of man can scuffle. There is a blight of professional football players getting arrested or mixed up with the wrong crowd. There was the awful shooting of Darrent Williams, there's Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones, all those Bengals, Pacman Jones, and now, Joey Porter involved with yet another Bengal. Proponents of the sport say that, statistically, they aren't getting themselves arrested any faster than any other sector of society. Sure. When was the last time you heard of a hockey player beating up a stripper and getting into a shootout with the bouncer? Yes, the on ice stuff can be pretty awful, but these athletes aren't getting into trouble outside of the game, and, really, the game is a lot less violent than football anyways.
Ra'Sean Dickey. - Ryan
ITEM ONE: The basketball we've seen thus far has been up and down. Thursday got a free pass because it was day one, but the games were mostly dreadful. Friday had some high points, but was still pretty lame, save for a couple good games, like the Illinois-Virginia Tech contest. Saturday, for those who didn't watch, was infused with enough action to give me a coronary. I'm lucky it didnt, frankly. Yesterday was a lot like Friday.
There are some teams and players I'm happy to still have around, like an exciting Oregon team who is an interesting addition to the sweet 16 this year. Additionally, I'm glad they are playing UNLV, but that's mostly because I picked the Runnin' Rebs to be in this game. I like Georgetown because they play a good, old school style of basketball, and Roy Hibbert looks like a lost Cosby kid. Additionally, I've become a huge Tyler Hansbrough fan, despite the fact that he plays in the ACC.
Of course, there are some teams and players out there that anger me at their continued existence. Joakim Noah. Aaron Gray and Pitt. Texas A&M. Ohio State. But there are plenty of teams out that I dislike that I can be happy about, like Notre Dame and Duke. Jered Dudley is no longer in the tournament, and that fills me with glee.
On the other hand Nick Fazekas and Nevada are no more, and my Purdue Boilermakers were dispatched by Joakim Noah and Florida. Also, my favorite name of the tournament, Ra'Sean Dickey and Georgia Tech were knocked off in the first round. The biggest loss for a lot of people was Texas and Kevin Durant.
What does this all lead to? Well, a vaguely bland sweet 16, but what should, at least, be high powered basketball.
ITEM TWO: Did the Wild play this week? They weren't on TV, so I'm not sure. Have they made the playoffs yet? Hmm... (One other hockey note, especially to ESPN. If you aren't going to cover hockey, you can go ahead and ignore the entire game without highlighting the one or two awful incidents a year. It makes it seem as though you are trying to paint the game as boorish and unwatchable, hoping the more civilized people will turn into the Strong Man competitions on your network instead of hockey, which wasn't really unpopular until you said it was. Oh. You ARE trying to make hockey unpopular so people will watch Strong Man instead? My fault! Don't let me tell you how to run your business then!)
ITEM THREE: One more time: Ra'Sean Dickey. I'm not sure what kills me about this name. It might be the silly, giggle inducing "Dickey". It could be the creative use of punctuation. I think its that they went with the Irish spelling of Sean in there. I don't think this name would have caught my attention if it was Ra'Shawn. Ok, maybe. That apostrophe is pretty funny.
ITEM FOUR: Not that I'm trying to make light of a an illness, especially one that claimed my grandfather last May, but David Wells has type 2 diabetes. Seriously, are we so out of shape in this country that our professional athletes, still playing the game even, are getting diabetes? Yeah, you read that right. David Wells is a professional athlete.
ITEM FIVE: A bit of sad news for the two or three people that may or may not have read my Valparaiso-UMKC recap from a couple months ago. One of the main characters in that game, Kansas City coach Rich Zvosec is now former coach Zvosec. And I never did learn to pronounce his name.
ITEM SIX: Let's cast another popular sport in a negative light, shall we? Newly Dolphined linebacker Joey Porter was arrested in Vegas after he came across Bengal Tackle Levi Jones at a blackjack table and the two had a scuffle. Well, as much scuffling as 500+ pounds of man can scuffle. There is a blight of professional football players getting arrested or mixed up with the wrong crowd. There was the awful shooting of Darrent Williams, there's Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones, all those Bengals, Pacman Jones, and now, Joey Porter involved with yet another Bengal. Proponents of the sport say that, statistically, they aren't getting themselves arrested any faster than any other sector of society. Sure. When was the last time you heard of a hockey player beating up a stripper and getting into a shootout with the bouncer? Yes, the on ice stuff can be pretty awful, but these athletes aren't getting into trouble outside of the game, and, really, the game is a lot less violent than football anyways.
Ra'Sean Dickey. - Ryan
posted by Ryan | 3:04 PM
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