missing March and its Madness.

All the anxiety that precedes the Mavericks and the other teams fighting for the last few spots in the playoffs does not even compare to that which encompasses the tournament. Every year I talk about how March is my favorite month, and every year it never lets me down. Though this year's tournament did not seem as exciting to some because it seemed to favor all the top seeded teams, it was still in high spirits. I am going to step outside the box and say that this year I actually enjoyed watching the Women's tournament and the NIT slightly more than the Men's tournament.

Only in the Women's tournament will you see players on the floor crying tears of happiness and sadness (unless Adam Morrison is playing). Only would a player on the Sooners womens team offer to payback her scholarship if her team did not win the championship. Only in the Women's tournament would a coach ignore one of his top players to prove a point. Only in the Women's tournament is 50+ points a high scoring game.

Oh, and only for the Women's tournament, would a video be made with a Miley Cyrus song...



Congratulations to the UConn Women's Basketball Team and UNC's Men's Team.

C. Parker.

When I first heard she was going to be on the cover of ESPN pregnant, I thought 'ew.' But now that I have seen it, I think 'dayum.'


Only Candace Parker can make being pregnant look hot. (Even Alba did not look this good.)

flaming thumb tacks.

Who would have ever thought the Tennessee Titans would be UNDEFEATED?! When people ask me what my favorite NFL team is, I claim the Titans. Everyone just assumes it is because of Vince Young. Please. With as many "issues" as Vince Young has right now, I would be damned to place my love for a team in his hands. I have been a silent fan of the Titans since 1999 when they changed their name from the Oilers. I loved Eddie George, and I especially loved how tight McNair wore this uniform. It was almost as sexy as John Stockton in his short shorts.

Several years later, is it now the Titan's defense that dominates, not the offense. GO TITANS!

Hook 'em!

This year's Red River game ranks among the top 5 games ever!



The game was amazing. Colt was amazing. Shipley was amazing. Cosby was amazing. I want to have all their babies!

Oh, what I would have given to come face to face with that OU fucker after the game. This OU fan thought it would be cool to stare at us the whole game while cheering for OU. And then he had the nerve to ask, "Do you guys even know anything about football?" I vaguely remember saying something like, "...short and inches. Just like your penis!" some time during the game when OU was inches short of a down. Ha.

Cheers to my Longhorns! Hook 'em!

I am the winner!

Cowboys victory over the Eagles sealed the W for the week...

I love this game.

Such a close game! Romo's team won by 3, but Tommy's team played a good game. They were never down by more than 9 and even pulled ahead the second half. It came down to a fouling game at the end.

My favorite fan quote of the game, "Don't foul him too hard! He's our quarterback!!"

Super [shitty] Bowl.

Who the fuck wants to see the New York Giants play the undefeated Patriots in the game that decides the champion of the 2007-2008 NFL season? No one.

Sure, the Giants have won 9 (or whatever) in a row. More reason they have no chance in the Superbowl, because 10 in a row would just be unheard of.

The Packers have heart, and Brett Favre deserves to play for the ring before he has another concussion.

Give me three chances, and hell, I can make the game winning field goal, too.

If it were not for Brady, I would have absolutely no reason to watch the game.

The commercials better be damn good this year.

Colt McCoy, he's our boy.

For those of you who do not know, the one of the left is Colt McCoy, the Longhorn's current star quarterback. Though he is no Vince Young, he is a cute, small town boy with a good arm. And the little one on the right...that is Thomas, the son of my favorite pharmacist to work with, Jill. Jill and her family went to the UT/Arkansas State game this past weekend and then proceeded to dine with the McCoy family. How cool is that?!

defeat.

And this is why I watch sports...


One of the most exciting 90 seconds of any game. Steve Nash bumps into Tony Parker head on and injures his nose. He does everything in is power to get back into the game, but after 15 bandaids and 3 changes in jersies, he ends up watching his team lose from the bench.

That is what you call a defeat.

eliminated.

Damn Mavericks make me so mad. I think I have cursed more in the past week than I have in this year. I sacrificed my time and sleep for these stupid eastern time games. And what do I get in return? The greatest upset in the NBA playoffs. Good job, you guys.

You guys played with no heart. Absolutely no desire to win. There was no passion in any of the players. All good teams have good players that play with passion. Even Yao Ming shows more emotion than Dirk.


Dirk, you are not an MVP. You had absolutely no value during this series. Bill Simmons is right, "Not since David Hasselhoff has America been so embarrassed by a German."

Players with hamstring problems played better than the entire starting line-up of the Mavericks. How do you let such big leads slip away? How do you let a team go on a 15-0 run? Way to win 67 games, you guys. Now what?

revival of the sports junkie within.

The starting line-up for the Boston Celtics. The record of the Chicago Bulls going into the playoffs. The starting quarterbacks of all the NFL teams. The offensive coach of the Washington Redskins. I used to know all the statistics and trivia. I used to be a sports junkie, at least when it came to basketball and football.

Now ask me the starting line-up of the Mavericks, and I struggle. I have let it all slip within the past years. In college, I was too busy studying other things...like, what liquors are mixed to make a Long Island Iced Tea. Though I developed a love for Longhorn sports my senior year, it was not until after I graduated that I kept up with college sports.

I am back in the game again. If my nose is not in a subscription of Sporting News, ESPN the magazine, or Sports Illustrated, it is probably a few inches away from the computer screen as I watch an NBA game. One of the best examples of advancement in technology...Gamecast.


Gamecast keeps my junkiness alive. It allows me to "watch" games online as they are being played. I work most evenings, but am fortunate enough to have internet access at both places of work (who does not have internet nowadays?). I keep a window open on ESPN.com at all times and every now and then (or more often if not busy) I "watch" the game. The features are amazing.

Now while some may contest that my time could be spent doing other more intellectual things, I must say that despite my hatred toward reading, I have begun giving more attention to the words that surround the pictures. And no, I am not talking about the captions below the pictures. My current favorite writer is Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy. He writes for ESPN. Though his writings will never make Oprah's Book Club, they also do not require CliffsNotes to understand and appreciate.

March Madness - And then there were two.

Number 1's against number 2's for the Final Four. I promised Tommy that if Ohio State did not prevail, that I would go for Georgetown all the way. Fortunately for me, Ohio State pulled it off. Unfortunately, UCLA did not.


Going into the weekend, I had a shot at winning some big bucks. Looks like now I will be lucky to just break even.

On a different note...congratulations to Durant on winning AP Player of the Year!

March Madness - Final Four.

Down to the final four - Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, and Ohio State.


As much as I wanted the Ducks to win, I knew Florida would prevail in the end. They are just too strong and too big for Porter and Brooks. The Georgetown game was amazing. Too bad we had to leave the bar during the second half to go to the women's game at Reunion. There was no way to predict it was going to go into overtime.

Though the women's games do not compare to the men's, it is always fun to watch. The Purdue/Georgia game was good. It was a competitive 40 minutes. I really only stayed for the second game for one reason. Ivory Latta.




Latta is one of the best point guards in the nation. She is the heart and soul of the Lady Tarheels. And though I may not have picked the most flattering pictures of her, the pictures clearly express how emotional she is. She loves every second of the game. I only wish I could have found a picture of her beating her chest; she likes to beat her fists against her chest when she hits a shot. Yeah, it is definitely a sight to see.

March Madness - Day 4.

It is Sweet Sixteen time! I have got 10 out of 16 still in it - not too bad.


Texas did not make it to the next round. I had them going to the Four but, to be honest, that pick alone going so far made for a risky East Region. Too bad I did not get to watch any of the games yesterday because of work. Maybe next year I will save up my vacation time and use it in March.

March Madness - Day 3.

Holy cow - a day filled with close games! Games going down to the final seconds of regulation. Other games going to double overtime. After the third day...


Ohio State barely getting by. A loss there would have ruined everyone's bracket, including mine. Thank goodness they prevailed. Seems, I may have underestimated UNC. Though the game against Michigan State was somewhat close, Hansbrough dominated. Hopefully he burned all his fuel in today's game and will have nothing left for the rest of the tournament.

March Madness - Day 2.

Damn you, Villanova!!! After the first round, it looks like Tommy is in the lead - he picked the most accurate upsets. I was holding my own for the most part...until Villanova lost to Kentucky! Damn you, Villanova. You were supposed to take care of Kansas for me...


Only a round has been completed, and I am already feeling the agony. If you do not get into March Madness, you will never understand the feelings behind it all. The Nevada/Creighton overtime game. Wisconsin only scoring 19 points in the half, only to come back to beat 15th seeded Texas A&M Corpus Christi 77 to 71. Tennessee scoring 121 points. Winthrop pulling the upset over Notre Dame.

Oh, the madness!

March Madness - Day 1.

It is March Madness time - one of my favorite times of the year. In fact, when asked what my favorite holiday is, I sometimes reply "March Madness." 64 NCAA teams given bids to play their heart out in this prestigious tournament. Millions of people trying to predict the outcomes of each of the games. This year, I have myself in 3 different pools, basically playing one bracket. After day 1 of the tournament, my bracket looks like this:


With tip-off times of 11 am to 8 pm, thank goodness for ESPN.com - I compulsively check on scores every 3-5 minutes at work.

Breakdown of day 1...

I gave Bob Knight way too much credit - what was I thinking?

Stanford over Louisville was probably my worst upset pick. They played in Kentucky - I have nothing to justify my pick.

Old Dominion almost stole one. It was a good game, and I do not regret my pick.

Prior to the tournament, I had no idea what VCU stood for. Yet it was still one of my confident picks. Poor Duke.

After listening to the radio, I should have changed my pick to Michigan State.

That damn Xavier. I thought I had one in BYU.

9 for 16 is not bad. Must do better tomorrow!

goodbye, coach.

With much respect for how much women's sports has grown, I know that a large part is due to the organizations and the staff, in addition to the athletes themselves. Jody Conradt has been a staple for Texas Women's basketball. After collecting her 900th victory and coaching 31 years at Texas, we say goodbye to one of the greatest coaches of all time...

Thank you for all that you brought to the women's athletic program. Hook 'em!

a good season ended in tears.

Not many things make me cry. Tonight I added something to that short list of tear jerkers. The sight of guys crying after losing a hard fought game was unbearable. I could not help but wipe my eyes as I walked my way through the bleachers.

60-65. The Plano Varsity Basketball team lost to Berkner in the Regional Quarterfinal Playoff game this evening. After a terrific season and winning the State Championship last year, the boys were out to seek another championship this year. I went to more games this season than I did the two years I was a student, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

My passion for the game and respect for the players has grown over the years. It is amazing to see all the heart that goes into the game - the players are playing because they love the sport and they want to win. As it is widely noted, the professional leagues are flooded with money hungry players. At times, it seems they lose sight of why they throw/shoot/catch the ball day in and day out. But high school and college sports...those are filled with passion and inspiration.

If you were to make a comparison of Roberson to Jordan, then Skinner is Roberson’s Pippen.

Read that statement above one more time, and you will see two high school seniors who played their hearts out for Plano (Roberson and Skinner) being compared to two future NBA Hall of Famers (Jordan and Pippen). How amazing is that? Amazing enough for me to keep up with Tech basketball next year because that is where Roberson will be making his mark.

*Sniff* Good season, you guys.