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College Basketball

Tennessee is already regretting the signing of their latest recruit

Ron Artest does it horribly. Kobe Bryant does it girly. Tony Parker does it unintelligibly. And Shaquille O’Neal does it hilariously. Yup, we’re talking about rapping and the NBA players who love to attempt it. Like anything and everything else the pros do, up-n-comers of the game want to be exact replicas of their favorite stars. Take Tennessee recruit Bobby Maze for example. He obviously idolizes this NBA rap superstar.

Links:

[Sports Crunch]: Tennessee Recruit Bobby Maze Tries to Rap

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College Basketball

How many seconds of beer ads did you count during March Madness?


Personally, we love beer. Can’t get enough of the stuff. However, some people – namely over 100 college presidents and A.D.s – have a problem with the excessive beer commercials that ran during the NCAA Tournament. Now, while we love the suds, we really hate some of those stupid ads because A) they’re stupid, and B) they usually get more air time than the games themselves. But these college bigwigs hate the commercials for a whole different set of reasons.

The college leaders – among them the top officials at Harvard, Abilene Christian and Georgia State – wrote a letter to NCAA President Myles Brand on Wednesday calling beer advertising “embarrassingly prominent” during tournament broadcasts. They asked the organization to reconsider its policies on alcohol advertising.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C., which helped organize the letter, accused the NCAA of violating its own policies that supposedly limit beer advertising to 60 seconds per hour and no more than 120 seconds per telecast. The center said it counted 200 seconds and 240 seconds of beer advertising during Saturday’s two semifinal games, and 270 seconds during Monday night’s final, when Kansas defeated Memphis 75-68 in overtime.

The NCAA bylaws do not allow any advertising for hard alcohol.

“Given the persistent problems caused by underage and excessive college drinking, much of it in the form of beer, we find it inconceivable that the NCAA’s profiting from beer promotion during the telecasts of college basketball games comports with the best interests of higher education, sports, or student welfare,” the letter said.

After condemning the excessive use of beer ads, the letter concluded by asking the NCAA to return to its routine practices of profiting off athletes.

Links:

[NewsObserver.com]: Colleges condemn NCAA tourney beer ads

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College Basketball

"Rock. Chalk. Championship."

Hopefully you didn’t go to bed and give up on the Jayhawks when they were in a nine-point hole with two minutes left in regulation – that’s right, we said regulation – because if you did then you missed one of the greatest finishes to a championship game in tourney history. Mario Chalmers sank a phenomenal, incredible, spectacular, unbelievable (too much?) shot in the final moments to send the game into overtime, exploiting Memphis’ free throw woes down the stretch to close the gap before running to a 75-68 extra inning win.

The Tigers are going to be kicking themselves over this one for a while. Joey Dorsey fouled out at the conclusion of regulation and the team missed four of their last five from the charity stripe in regulation. Not exactly the way they planned to cap off a season in which they won more games than any team in the history of college basketball.

While John Calipari might disagree, all in all, it was on of the greatest tournaments in a long time. And we’ve got One Shining Moment to prove it.

Categories
College Basketball

Derrick Rose loves gummy bears, but still hates needles


If you think your diet goes straight to hell during March Madness then at least you’re not alone. There’s no telling how many nachos, hotdogs, soda and microwave pizzas we’ve pounded since opening day. But we’re used to it; we find some sporting event every weekend in order to indulge. Heck, we tuned into the Winter X-Games just so we could kill an entire gallon of cookies-n-cream ice cream. Our excuse is that we’re on the Derrick Rose diet. What’s yours?

Right before sitting down to answer questions Sunday, Memphis’ freshman point guard asked coach John Calipari to be excused from media sessions because his stomach was bothering him. Rose went to see trainers and never returned.

Teammate Chris Douglas-Roberts offered a possible reason why his running mate had a stomach ache.

”[Derrick] eats Gummy Bears and Starburst for breakfast and Twizzlers and Honey Buns for dinner — that’s why his stomach hurts,” Douglas-Roberts said.

‘We tell Derrick the whole year, `Stop eating so many Gummy Bears and Sour Straws.’ But he can’t.’

Links:

[MiamiHerald.com]: Memphis’ Rose has upset stomach

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College Basketball

Roy Williams begrudgingly faces his "second-favorite team"


We all remember Roy Williams’ teary-eyed goodbye when he decided to leave Kansas for North Carolina in 2003. Well, it is time for Williams to say hello to his old club, even if he doesn’t want to. The two teams are on a collision course and the head-on crash will occur this Saturday in the Final Four.

If I was ever going to play Kansas again, this is the only way I would want it to happen,” Williams said Monday in a conference call. “The reason I say that I wouldn’t schedule them is very easy for me: because they’re my second-favorite college team. And those people gave me a chance. It’s a place that I loved for 15 years.

“I never scheduled North Carolina when I was at Kansas because for those 15 years North Carolina was my second-favorite team. And just I have too many great memories to consider somebody a foe on the other end of the court. …

“When I stood up in front of those kids at Kansas and told ’em that I was leaving, and the feeling that I had when I walked out of that room, that’s a feeling I hope I never have again,” Williams said Friday. “Because I felt like I was, I felt like I was dirty.

Dirty? We know you felt close to the team and it tore you up inside to walk out, but dirty? Sorry, but we just don’t agree. You did what you felt was best and the rest is history. In our book, dirty is reserved for one man and one man only in the current world of college basketball – Billy “Dirty Ass” Donovan. As long as you never let yourself become that guy then you’ll be just fine. Now, go out there and kick Kansas’ butt all over San Antonio!

Links:

[NYTimes.com]: Williams Gets His Ideal Setting for the Game He Did Not Want

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College Basketball

Odds and Ends: Coach tells Michael Beasley to go pro, even if it means going to Miami


Reportedly, Kansas State forward Michael Beasley has yet to decide if he is going to turn pro next year or return to the Wildcats for a sophomore season. Now, we’re no rocket scientists, but if you ask us, it’s a done deal that the freshman phenom is headed for the next level. After all, the boosters at K-State can’t compete with the NBA’s moolah and it’s going to be nearly impossible for the Wildcats to hang with Kansas and Texas even if he does return. The solution for Beasley should be elementary: listen to your coach, kid!

If you get an opportunity to make $100 million, how am I going to tell him it’s smart to stay in school?” Martin told The Star on Tuesday. “If somebody offered me $100 million, I’m going. I would totally support his decision (to leave) if he’s going to make $100 million.

In other news…

[NYCForLeBron.com]: New Yorkers are already campaigning for LeBron.

[Awful Announcing]: Neil Everett, Stan Verrett, Stan Everett; it’s all the same.

[YouTube]: Top 10 Crazy Goalie Moments All-Time

[Chron.com]: The NBA is going to honor Dikembe Mutombo’s career tonight even though it’s not over!

[DeseretNews.com]: Shaq wants to patrol Phoenix’s streets, but basketball keeps interfering.

[SignOnSanDiego.com]: Shawne Merriman now owns a Mercedes Burnz.

[The Big Lead]: Magic Johnson’s needs to put his shirt back on.

[KDKA.com]: Hair today. Gone tomorrow.

And finally, have you ever wondered what a slap to the kisser looks like in super slow motion? Well, wonder no more.

Categories
College Basketball

Highlights sure aren’t what they used to be

When March Madness comes rolling around, we turn into absolute NCAA basketball junkies. For weeks on end we sit and stare at the tube and the computer screen in an attempt to catch every possible moment of action. So far, the highlight of the tournament for us was when the frog on Duke dunked on Belmont’s Jason.

Links:

[Can’t Stop The Bleeding]: A Non-CBS Affiliate Presents “One Shining Muppet”

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College Basketball

Going gay for Coach K

Please tell us you remember last year’s video of the year. No, not Rihanna’s “Umbrella;” we’re talking about the Cameron Crazies getting punk’d in Peter Rosenberg’s “This Is Why Duke Sucks.” Well, like any good up and coming artist, Rosenberg knows that timing is everything when it comes to dropping new singles, so now on the opening day of NCAA Tournament play we present to you the much anticipated “Duke Fan Stan.”

Links:

[College Humor]: Duke Fan Stan

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College Basketball

Odds and Ends: Forget 2008, 2009 March Madness is upon us


We don’t even have one game of this year’s tournament under our belts yet and already the NCAA is about to start accepting application for the 2009 Final Four in Detroit. Of course, when tickets are as hot as Final Four tickets are you need to get on the ball early. You know what they say; the early bird catches all the early bird specials.

The cheapest tickets will cost $150, which is a bargain: Tickets to next month’s games in San Antonio are selling online for $2,500 or more.

In other news…

[MMAScraps.com]: It’s an ass whooping no matter what language it’s in.

[The 700 Level]: Phillies have “Bring Your Marmoset Monkeys To Work Day.”

[Balls Deep Sports]: Don’t worry, Terry Bradshaw remains zany after the football season is over.

[Philly.com]: Charles Barkley can relate to Allen Iverson’s return to Philadelphia.

[The Big Lead]: Mark Cuban, Now Directing Hatred at MMA Writers.

[Golf Spelled Backwards*]: So funny we forgot to laugh.

[SportingNews.com]: Terrelle Pryor is not for hire anymore. Sorry Big Blue.

[TodaysTMJ4.com]: Shocking Brett Favre news out of Green Bay. He’s planning to return to Lambeau…sorta.

Categories
College Basketball

St. Patrick’s Day brings out a bracket-busting leprechaun

Now, we know that some people get pretty desperate around tournament time, but are you seriously going to fill out your bracket based on the input of some guy named Spaz? We didn’t think so. What if he was in a leprechaun outfit?