Western Conference Finals: Sharks Swim Together

Alright, I'm a day late but SU had me slaving all day yesterday. It won't change my prediction on the Sharks-Canucks series at all.

In the Western Conference Semis, we saw two great series go right down to the wire. The Preds put up a decent fight against the #1 seeded Vancouver Canucks but in the end the better team came out on top.

The Sharks jumped out to a 3-0 series lead on the Detroit Red Wings but Hockeytown wouldn't go down without a fight and came all the way back (a la the Chicago Blackhawks) to tie the series at 3-3 before the Sharks finished them in the seventh game at HP Pavilion. I had the Red Wings winning in decisive fashion but the Sharks proved me wrong.

This brings me to where we are now. The Western Conference Semi-finals.


#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #2 San Jose Sharks

The Sharks blew a third period lead in Vancouver last night but still played well enough to win on the road against the #1 seed in the West. The success of the Sharks relies on the play of Antii Niemi. He has the deep playoff experience that can get the Sharks to the Stanley Cup finals. Virtually the entire squad of the Vancouver Canucks have no experience this deep in NHL post-season play.

I think the Sharks are a deeper team than the Canucks. The Sharks first two lines are nearly untouchable. Having said that, don't think for a second that former Shark defenseman turned Canuck Christian Ehrhoff will want to get a good shot in on Heatley or Marleau as they move into the zone.

I feel confident that the Sharks will get to the cup on the wings of their offense. Devin "The Canasian" Setoguchi has had a good post-season. He's no Sean Bergenheim but he's still playing well. Sharks win 4-3.


Those Bay Area sports fans are spoiled.


-Mikko

Derek Boogaard Found Dead

One of the most feared fighters in the NHL today was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment on Friday. There still aren't any details as to the exact cause of death, but he was found at 6:10 pm CDT.

He played in just 22 games this year. He missed the rest of the year and the post-season action that the Rangers were part of with a concussion stemming from this fight with Ottawa's Matt Carkner:



Some are speculating that Boogaard's death came from symptoms of this concussion but I'll wait for autopsy results before I pass judgement on it.

Despite being an enforcer on the ice, Boogaard was regarded to be one of the nicest guys in the league. Several teammates and even counterparts have tweeted about his death, sending regards to the family of the Saskatchewan native. He also was very active in the communities of the two teams he played for: the Minnesota Wild and now the New York Rangers.

You know what they say, only the good die young. Boogaard was 28.

Inside Miller Park: Greinke's Home Debut

Thanks to the sheer genius that is Curly, Murph, Seitz and I were able to attend last night's Brewer game for five dollars. As most of you know by now, it was newly acquired and fresh-off-the-DL Zack Greinke's home debut.

The Brewers' brass thought it would be a good idea to hand out white towels for the first 30,000 fans to cross the turnstyles last night. Unfortunately, there were only 27,000 and change in attendance but the atmosphere was pretty much there.


Greinke came out rolling with two Ks in the top of the first. Obviously, we were a little late arriving to Miller Park and kind of lost track of time while slamming beers and eating raw chicken in the parking lot so we missed the top of the first...barely. Zack made up for our stupidity though by striking out two more in the second inning on his way to 9 Ks for the night in six innings of work.

He was getting a little shaky by the sixth with his velocity dropping and things of that nature but he punched out the Padres' Brad Hawpe with men on with two outs in the sixth. At first, I thought they should have left him in but after thinking about it, Roenicke made the right decision getting him out. Of course, it's easy to say that when the bullpen holds up their end of the deal.

Kameron Loe got into a jam in the 8th when he immediate put men on the corners with no one out. Then Yuni Betancourt (a man not known for his leather) made the best play I've ever seen in person.

He tracked down a sharp grounder up the middle, did the ol' backhand flip to Weeks from his glove in which Weeks bare-handed and tossed to Prince at first for the double play. A run did score but he may have saved the game with that play. The crowd gave him a standing ovation for his web-gem.

It was nice to see John Axford come in and work a fairly clean ninth for the second time in three days. He worked around a one out single to earn his sixth save of the year in eight chances.

Greinke picked up his first victory (of many) and looked fairly sharp last night. You have to take it with a grain of salt since it was against the Padres who have been shutout 8 times this year and don't have any three-hundred hitters. It was good to see though.

Lakers Lose Their Cool

Apparently, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...or they are just classless thugs misrepresenting the most proud franchise in the NBA.

Odom got the tension started when he threw a big shoulder into the chest of the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki while Dirk was attempting to set a pick for J.J. Barea. Then, moments later, Andrew Bynum went into the ribs of a driving J.J. Barea with an elbow, not even looking at the ball. After he was immediately ejected, Bynum pulled off his jersey and was walked off the court by Mr. Rogers himself, Ron Artest. Artest was ejected at the end of Game 3 for putting his elbow in the face of J.J. Barea.


I always knew the Lakers were a bunch of hot-heads, but this is the ultimate way to disgrace the game of basketball. I now know why the only guy I like on the Lakers is Pau Gasol. He's the only one on the squad that isn't bitching about every last thing. Sure, he isn't the most care-free player on the team but he wouldn't do things like this:



Mike Tirico said it best, "You have to lose like a champion too." That's the complete opposite of what the Lakers showed today.

There will be no 3-peat and good riddance for that.

Liriano Tosses No-No

Minnesota Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano has thrown the first no-hitter of 2011. Liriano walked six batters and threw 123 pitches but a no-hitter is a no-hitter.

The 27 year old southpaw came into the game with an ERA over 9.00 but was able to keep Chicago White Sox hitters off balance throughout the game. This is the first Twins no-hitter since the fellow left-hander Eric Milton did it against the Angels back in 1999.

The losing pitcher was Edwin Jackson, who through a no-hitter of his own last season. Jackson went eight innings and allowed six hits, one of which was a solo HR by Twins' DH Jason Kubel. You could argue that Jackson pitched better than Liriano aside from that one pitch.

The White Sox have become the first team in 2011 to be no-hit. They have all kinds of problems. They can't pitch or hit yet this year.

-Mitch

Closing Time: This Time Next Year

 Drop Out of Life by thistimenextyear


One of my favorite bands. They just released this about a week ago I guess. New album out this summer. The song is called "Drop Out of Life". Yadda, yadda, yadda. Pretty slow day in sports today if you ask me. Let's hope for some more action tomorrow and for the Brewers to get a victory.

Western Conference Semis: Where The 'Hawks At?

Looking at my predictions from the first round, I had my ups and downs.

• I called the Canucks winning in seven games. Thank the Lord. I knew the Blackhawks would be a tough matchup for Vancouver but I didn't think they would almost comeback after being down 3-0
• I had the Sharks in five and it took them six to finish off those pesky Kings. 
• I went out on a limb and said the Phoenix Coyotes would take out the Red Wings in seven. I couldn't have been more wrong about that and I take full responsibility for that. 
• I had Anaheim beating Nashville in six because of their high powered first line. I failed to acknowledge that the Predators goalie Pekka Rinne is a god damn beast and he neutralized that line. 

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the next round of the Western Conference half of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #5 Nashville Predators

So we have the Canucks against the Nashville Preds tonight. I can't really see the Predators having enough to beat the 'Nucks in this series. Hockeytonk (great nickname for Nashville) will be rocking in those home games, but Ryan Kesler will have something to say. Daniel Sedin has five goals in the post-season and those numbers will rise. I think the Predators are an easier matchup than the eighth seeded Blackhawks were. Canucks 4-2.

#2 San Jose Sharks vs. #3 Detroit Red Wings


You know what? I'm going to take my Sharks goggles off for this one. Detroit is the better team and there's something about the Sharks that I just don't trust. The Sharks have goaltender issues. It depends which Antti Niemi decides to show up. The filthiness factor in this series will be off the hook. Datsyuk and Marleau can dangle with the best of 'em and Valtteri Filppula and Joe Thornton can sauce the puck like no one else can. Hockeytown is too much so I'm not even gonna get my hopes up. Detroit 4-3.

Brewers Getting Brooms Ready in Philly

I never thought I'd say those words but today the Milwaukee Brewers have put themselves in a position to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies. You have to go back to 2006 for the Brewers last sweep of the Phillies, when they did it at Miller Park.

Since then, the Phillies have been in back-to-back World Series and beat the Tampa Bay Rays the 2008 Fall Classic. They have also added pitchers like Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt to the equation.

Snap back to reality, I was prepared for the Brewers to get pummeled in Philadelphia after playing some real bad baseball in the Nation's capital this past weekend. I might be jinxing it with this post but I feel better about facing Cliff Lee than I do facing Roy Halladay, especially with Randy Wolf on the bump against Halladay.

Much to my pleasure, Wolf rose to the occasion and pitched very well last night. Correct me if I'm wrong Brewer fans, but that is two consecutive quality starts out of 2010's prized pitching acquisition. I'd be lying if I said Wolf got lucky a few times here and there last night but that's what has to happen for Wolf to keep us in the game.

And the offense did the rest.

We put up single runs in the second and third innings and in the sixth as Wolf continued to keep Phillies' hitters off balance. Then in the seventh frame, the Brewers busted the game open. The highlight of the inning was a first pitch, 3-run HR by Buster McGehee to welcome Philly reliever David Herndon to the game. Two of those runs were put on Halladay's tab giving him 6 ER over 6.2 innings.

Ryan Braun continues to swing a hot bat as well. He homered of Halladay in the third last night and was on base four times against the perennial Cy Young candidate. Before the Brewers' home opener they had various members of the local media on as part of an hour and a half pre-game show and I believe it was Journal Sentinel writer Michael Hunt who predicted that Braun would win the MVP in 2011. While it's way to soon for me to jump to that conclusion, he could find himself in the discussion if things continue to go well for him and the Brewers.

I'm fairly confident in the Brewers' ability to get the W today. In one career start against the Brewers (I know, it's a small sample size), Cliff Lee allowed seven runs in six innings back in 2009. Let's hope history repeats itself.

Mitsy's NBA Bracket

Eastern Conference                                                                    Western Conference

               

First Round:                                                                                First Round:

Chicago beats Indiana 4-1                                                             San Antonio beats Memphis 4-3
Miami beats Philadelphia 4-2                                                         Lakers beat New Orleans 4-0
Atlanta beats Orlando 4-3                                                             Portland beats Dallas 4-2
New York over Boston 4-3                                                          Oklahoma City beats Denver 4-3

Second Round:                                                                           Second Round:
Chicago beats Atlanta 4-2                                                            OKC beats San Antonio 4-2
Miami beats New York 4-3                                                         Lakers beat Portland 4-3

Conference Finals:                                                                    Conference Finals:
Chicago beats Miami 4-2                                                             OKC beats Lakers 4-3

NBA Finals

Hate to say it but Bulls over Thunder 4-2

-Mikko

Closing Time: Young, Wild and Free

 Young, Wild, and Free by Hollywood Blow


Pretty sure this song is technically by Snoop Dogg with Wiz being featured but nevertheless, it's catching fire around here. Just a chill jam.

Boa noite.

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Western Conference

As we enter into an exciting time in American sports with the start of baseball season and the stretch run of the NBA season, we cannot forget about the NHL post-season. While the regular season doesn't get nearly the publicity it deserves in America, ESPN actually pays a pretty decent amount of attention to professional hockey during the post-season.

I figured I would step up and take the challenge of predicting the Western Conference's piece of the pie. The Canucks had a great year, but can they handle the pressure of being the #1 seed? Can they handle the pressure of Canada not winning a Cup since the Montreal Canadians in 1993?


Truth be told, I haven't really followed the NHL this season any closer than the Thursday night "shot-a-goal" games of EA Sports' NHL 11 over on Cramer but, contrary to popular belief, I am not a dumbass when it comes to who could win it all so here goes:

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Chicago Blackhawks

The two squads have faced each other the last two post-seasons with Blackhawks taking the series each time. Not so fast though 'Hawks fans, I think that spells - advantage Canucks. The Sedin brothers are the hottest set of twins since Mary Kate and Ashley, and those two will have something to say. The Canucks are also impossible to beat when they get up early. You can attribute that to netminder Roberto Luongo. I think the 'Hawks have enough offense to make it a series though. Canucks 4-3. If the Blackhawks win I'll puke.

#2 San Jose Sharks vs. #7 Los Angeles Kings

I am fan of both of these division rivals but with Anze Kopitar on the shelf, it might get ugly. The Sharks have a ton of depth at center and feature a guy at that position from Plover, WI named Joe Pavelski who had a HUGE 2010 post-season leading the team to the conference finals. The inexperienced Kings could be in for a long series, or short one depending on how you look at it. Sharks 4-1 


#3 Detroit Red Wings vs. #6 Phoenix Coyotes


Red Wings star Henrik Zetterberg has come out this morning and said that he will miss at least the first game of their series with the Phoenix Coyotes. I wonder how big of a factor that could be considering he had 80 points this year. The Coyotes' strength is their goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. The franchise's winningest goaltender is playing very well and we all know what a hot goaltender can do for a team. I like the Coyotes in this one. Coyotes 4-3


#4 Anaheim Ducks vs. #5 Nashville Predators


The Predators also have a lights-out netminder with Pekka Rinne but I don't know if a brick wall could stop Anaheim top line of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaff and Bobby Ryan. Corey Perry is the league's only 50+ goal scorer this year and is worthy of the MVP. Teemu Selanne is like a fine wine with 80 points as well in 2010-2011. If the Predators can play the shut-down D they showed against the 'Hawks last season, the series could be great. Ducks 4-2


Later rounds to come boys.

The Abrupt End of 'Manny Being Manny'

As all of you Eau Claire folk enjoy your beautiful 65 degree weather today, some big baseball news has come about. Tampa Bay Rays' DH Manny Ramirez has officially left the game after 19 seasons in Major League Baseball after again testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.

The good ol' days.

Manny is the first person ever to test positive twice for PEDs and rather than face the 100 game suspension for two offenses, he decided to retire. He never really was the same player after coming back from that first suspension.

He was somewhat known for his quirky antics, like cutting off a throw from Johnny Damon in the middle of left field out of nowhere or taking a piss in the Green Monster during the middle of an inning, or for his care-free attitude. But mainly, the 12 time All-Star was known as one of the most feared hitters in the MLB. He was a lifetime .312 hitter and hit 555 homers in his career, mostly with the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox.

Will that be enough for Manny to get into the Hall? Some would argue that it is but I think with him testing positive twice, it will be a long shot. Mark McGwire won't get in. Roger Clemens won't get in. Why would Manny?

It's a shame that such a great career has fizzled out the way it has and especially with it ending this way. We're gonna miss you Manny.

Was It Really Just Luck?

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is having a wonderful season in the Windy City and he is the clear front-runner for the league's most valuable player award. But I've always wondered, were the Bulls just really lucky to get him or is there something more?

Back in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Chicago native was to be the cut and dried number overall selection and whichever team got him was going to be better almost immediately.

The Miami Heat went 15-67 in a 2007-2008 campaign in which Dwyane Wade was injured for the better part of the year and they featured guys like Chris Quinn and Mark Blount in their starting lineup on a nightly basis. For their efforts that season, the Heat were given a 25% chance of getting that number one pick.


Having said that, The Chicago Bulls had a 1.7% chance (ninth best that year) of getting that number one overall selection after they went 33-49 in '07-'08 and had fired head coach Scott Skiles, current Milwaukee Bucks head coach, mid-season. The firing came on Christmas Eve 2007 to be exact.

The Bulls have not had much luck in the draft or anywhere since the Michael Jordan era. They had gotten some high lottery picks in some fairly shabby draft classes. For example, in the 2000 NBA draft the Bulls had the #4 and the #8 picks and drafted Marcus Fizer and Jamal Crawford. Neither one of those guys start in the NBA right now and only the good Lord knows what Fizer is doing to make ends meet. Also, in 2002, they drafted former Duke standout Jay Williams and he ended his career before it really started after a motorcycle accident. If it weren't for his ESPN gig, what would he be doing?

All of those guys were outstanding college athletes, but haven't lived up to their potential in the NBA.

Then comes commissioner David Stern, far and away the most powerful man in the Association and therefore one of the most powerful men in America. He could see that the Bulls were wandering around with no direction like Moses leading the Children of Israel, and were in need of something to get that franchise and that market back on track. Chicago is either the third or fourth biggest city in America depending on who you talk to, and that means more dollars to an already flourishing NBA. Do you think it was purely dumb luck?

Stern makes a few phone and pulls a few strings and gets the Bulls the number one pick. With Rose being a Chicago native, he is inherently a fan-favorite. If you ask me, Stern has a history of some real fishy deals behind the scenes. Case and point is the move of the Sonics to Oklahoma City. That was basically a friend (Stern) doing another friend (Oklahoma City business man Clayton Bennett) a favor. Stern convinced the NBA owners that it would be good for the league to have a franchise in OKC, leaving the City of Seattle high and dry. Suspicious e-mails surfaced after the move that Bennett and Stern were two peas in a pod.

I am not taking anything away from Derrick Rose. The guy is obviously very, very talented and is absolutely deserving of the MVP this season. I have the utmost respect for Rose especially with the off-the-court issues surrounding him (see the infamous "gang-symbol photo" and the ACT scandal)and he still continues to play at a very high level while keeping his mouth shut.

I'm just always conjuring up these conspiracies and it wouldn't surprise me that a snake like David Stern would pull a stunt like that.

Opening Day: Brewers at Reds

It's finally here Brewer fans. The day where everyone's slate is wiped clean and we all have a chance. Naturally, I have a myriad of classes today but I will get to watch a good portion of the middle innings.

It's Yovani Gallardo toeing the slab today for the Brewers against Edinson Volquez for the Reds. Yovani had a great spring and I expect that to continue into the season today.

Here are the lineups:

       Brewers                                                                                                Reds

1. Rickie Weeks 2B                                                                         1. Drew Stubbs CF
2. Carlos Gomez CF                                                                        2. Brandon Phillips 2B
3. Ryan Braun LF                                                                            3. Joey Votto 1B
4. Prince Fielder 1B                                                                         4. Scott Rolen 3B
5. Casey McGehee 3B                                                                    5. Jay Bruce RF
6. Mark Kotsay RF                                                                         6. Jonny Gomes LF
7. Yuni Betancourt SS                                                                     7. Ramon Hernandez C
8. Wil Nieves C                                                                               8. Paul Janish SS
9. Yovani Gallardo P                                                                        9. Edinson Volquez P

Jalen Rose Accused of DUI

All the way back on March 11th ESPN basketball analyst Jalen Rose was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. The arrest was made in West Bloomfield Township in the great state of Michigan.

Things are really starting to snowball for Rose, who has been at the forefront of criticism after his small but controversial comment(s) in the ESPN "30 for 30" documentary about Michigan's "Fab Five". He made a comment about how, at the time, he thought all the African-American players on the Duke men's basketball team were "Uncle Toms" because they came from somewhat of affluent families and he did not.


Since the airing of the documentary, he's gone head-to-head with Skip Bayless (a.k.a. Rocky's lifemate) on "1st and 10" regarding the comments and how that's really what he thought about them. Other than that, I haven't seen too much of the guy.

Love the suit.

My initial reaction to the news of the DUI was: why are they just breaking this on ESPN.com now after nearly three weeks? Some think it was because they wanted to wait until after the documentary?  Maybe Jalen didn't tell them or they didn't find out until now?

I find it hard to believe they purposely waited until tonight, when Coach K released his own two cents about Rose's comment. They probably just were informed of the new legal troubles for Rose. It is a convenient time for ESPN to re-consider Rose's contract, with the end of the NBA season right around the corner.

This is a little saddening to me because I considered Jalen Rose to be one of my favorite analysts on ESPN. The 13-year NBA vet really showed that if anyone should be an expert on the current game, it should be him. He always seemed to know what he was talking and he probably won't be back. Then again, Michael Irvin got a second chance.

Somebody Get Geno a Happy Meal

University of Connecticut head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma can't seem to keep his trap shut. He's back at his same whiny shenanigans that he was in the news for when his team broke the NCAA record for consecutive wins.

This time it comes after his team advanced to the Sweet 16 last night with a victory over Purdue in front of a half-full (or, as Geno looks at it, half-empty) arena in Storrs, CT. In his post-game press conference he sarcastically suggested that they should offer free-parking or more giveaways to get fans to watch his team.

"I guess we need to win more," Auriemma said. Here's a thought, maybe it's just that no one likes to watch unathletic people try to play basketball. Maybe if they dunked the ball more, there would be more people in the stands?

In the fans' defense, they probably just figured a team that has won 112 of its last 113 games, would automatically cruise into the Sweet 16 and were trying to beat the weather and get to Philadelphia ahead of time. Obviously it doesn't effect his players as much as it effects him.

-Mitch

First Taste: Weekend FM - 50 Cigarettes (Dead To Me)

50 cigarettes (Dead to Me) by WeekendFM

For a nice change of pace, I decided to give you a taste of music other than rap like whack ass Mac Miller (a.k.a. the white Wiz Khalifa) or Kanye. This is a band out of the suburbs of Chicago that just released this new track. This song reminds me a lot of Sum 41. So, if you want to take a trip down memory lane and listen to the stuff you listened to in Junior High (or never grew out of that stuff, like me) give this a listen.

-Mikko

Day 2 Live Blog: 11 to 2

11:15: Mitch here again. Chuck's on I-94 right now en route back to the town with the large water tower. First up today, Texas vs. Oakland. We get Marv Albert and Stevie Kerr for the Tulsa games.

11:19: Oakland U has a guy from Madison? Cool beans.

11:23: Tristan Thompson is a good looking player boys. He'd look good in Green and Red.

11:29: Oakland is better than I thought. This should hopefully be a real good game.



11:34: I think SNOTap should help the cause in Japan. I mean, given our wide audience of broke college kids, I think we could really make a difference. Your thoughts?


11:38: I swear I keep hearing random whistles while watching this game. Maybe I'm just hungover? Anyway, we have Michigan and Tennessee coming up in a few. I picked Tennessee in that one. Michigan hasn't beat anyone worth mentioning all year.

11:42: Oakland was looking real sloppy for those last few possessions leading to some easy buckets for Texas. The coach took a T.O. right before the under-8:00 media timeout. I hate commercials.

11:48: You can pretty much scratch that garbage I spoke of earlier. Texas is the better squad, clearly. Too much depth and talent. Texas will probably win easily.

11:53: That Balbay kid could have been on the Van Wilder team. He loves Texas.

11:56: Curly's bitchin' about one of his engineering professors and he throws on the Chinese accent and all. I'm loving it.

12:04: Oakland is sort of hanging with Texas as we go to half. Tough to say what will happen. It's the NCAA Tournament.

12:08: They just showed Tim Hardaway on the tele. Didn't look too happy. There must have been some gays sitting by him.

12:14: I have Notre Dame in the National Championship game. Eric replies, "That's insane." Fuck you Eric.

12:19: I never said that the Michigan-Tennessee game wouldn't come down to the wire though.

12:26: Texas out to a good start in the second half. What did you expect though?

12:35: The Milwaukee Police Dept. had to close down Water St. last night after some dude got shot. I feel safe here. As for the games, they're still going.

12:42: Texas is hitting their stride a bit and slowly are pulling away from the Golden Grizzlies. Notre Dame and Akron are set to get underway. I have a bottle of Canadian Hunter set aside in case the Irish go down.

12:50: Big stretch in the game if you're Oakland. Curly just fired up Modern Warfare 2. Quotes shall ensue.

12:52: Sounds like Spero Dedes is doing the Notre Dame game. God that's a great name, ain't it?

12:56: Were Jack Cooley and Luke Harangody seperated at birth? Fuckin A. They're identical.

1:04: Notre Dame is playing like we thought they would so far. Michigan on the other hand, is about to hand me yet another loss.

1:06: Zeke Marshall for Akron is a lanky dude.

1:12: Here's something for you to snack on while I'm dropping a deuce. Found on Twitter, from Ocho himself:



1:16: Come back to see that Oakland isn't rolling over in the burning embers of their game with Texas. I need a victory here.

1:18: Texas gets a break on a "tripping" foul. The Freshman Joseph makes 1 of 2.

1:19: Oakland goes down nearly makes a three but Texas gathers, goes the the stripe and makes both.

1:20: Timeout Oakland after getting a bucket. Texas leads 83-77 and we're under thirty seconds.

1:22: What's this? They're cutting away from the game to show Obama speak about Libya? At this moment? Dammit.

1:24: They moved it to TNT but the game is pretty much over. Nothing too exciting, Texas just decided to make it interesting for us.

1:27: Ben Hansbrough just got his shit swatted by big Zeke Marshall. I chuckled. Akron giving me fits so far.

1:31: Texas holds on bringing my numbers to 11 of 17, but they might as well run the clock out on Tennessee they're getting blown out by the Wolverines. So make that 11 of 18 in the first round.

1:35: 'Nova and George Mason trade a couple threes early on. Jay Wright and Villanova lead 15-12. Go 'Cats.

1:49: Tyrone Nash with a big slam +1 for the Irish. I need him to play well. You can close the book on Tennessee too finally. They go down by 30 to Michigan. That's like Pearl Harbor. Too soon?

1:53: Where is Charlie? This kind of labor was not mentioned in my contract with SNOTap.

2:00: Sounds like you're stuck with me until 2:30ish. Yung Charles is taking his time. I need to get back on that Mortal Kombat demo. Shit's raw.

2:02: Zona and Memphis just tipped. If the Wildcats get ousted, I'm out another Sweet 16 team. By the way, did I mention Gus is doing the 'Nova and G. Mason game?

2:08: Everything is going swimmingly in Chicago for the most part with Notre Dame. 'Nova has a narrow lead on George Mason. Memphis has an early lead on Arizona. Stay tuned for Chuck; it's been real guys.

-Mitch

Charter Adds TruTV HD

Everyone that is a Wisconsin basketball fan, in the central and western parts of the state, can breathe a sigh of relief. Charter Communications will pick up the suddenly relevant TruTV in High Definition. It will be channel 651.

You will now be able to watch the Badgers first round game against the champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Belmont Bruins, in whatever stunning High Def your television can dish out. The game can be seen at 6:27 central time.

I, on the other hand, get to suffer in my abode in Milwaukee with Time Warner Cable who seems to be ignoring this public outcry. I'll get to watch my two favorite teams ('Sconnie and 'Cuse) on TruTV in 480i a.k.a Standard Definition.

Oh well.

-Mitchy

Bucks Set Franchise Mark For Futility

During the hoopla of Selection Sunday I happened to flip to FSWisconsin and to my surprise, the Bucks were on. They happened to be playing the Boston Celtics.

Night in and night out the Bucks struggle on offense. It's just the way it is. But after the way they were playing the last few games (albeit against Washington, Cleveland and Philadelphia) I thought they were starting to click for once. Then they go out and shoot just 31 percent from the floor and score a franchise low for points in a single game by scoring 56 Sunday night in Boston. The mark is also a record night on the defensive end for Boston since they held the Milwaukee Hawks to 57 points back in 1955.


Keyon Dooling had an opportunity to get the Bucks to 58, tying the record, from the free throw line with 22 ticks to go but clanged both of them sealing their fate.

Can they make their run?

Coach Skiles said the loss was humiliating and they "pretty much just gave into it". I mean, Earl Barron was the Bucks' leading scorer at a blistering ten points. They would have set a league record for lowest points in a half in the first half if it weren't for Andrew Bogut's two baskets in the final minute of the second quarter to bring their total to 22. The record is 19.

The C's made only two 3-pointers in the game and still scored 87. It didn't help the Bucks case to have Bogut get into early foul trouble. The Bucks aren't the same team with the league's leading shot blocker on the bench for the better part of the first half. Also, it didn't help that that was the Bucks' fifth game of the week and they were taking on the #1 team in the Eastern Conference.

I think the Celtics are in good shape for the post-season despite the fact that there are five new faces in their rotation. Troy Murphy finally woke up in his fifth game with Boston last night. Carlos Arroyo is a very capable back-up to Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green brings some added athleticism off the bench.

The Bucks fell to a game and a half back of 8th place Indiana with their loss and the Pacers' victory last night. They'll look to avenge this dismal effort when they head to Atlanta to take on the Hawks Tuesday night.

-Mitch