On to Baseball..

Well, Ohio State sports continues to disappoint.  The one team I feared playing, Kentucky, was the ultimate demise to the Buckeyes season.

If there is any good news to come from the loss, Jared Sullinger, William Buford, and DeShaun Thomas all said they are coming back.  Not really sure why Thomas had to make that statement as he and Jimmer could battle for quickest to put up a jumper, but also for the worse defensive player in the country, but nevertheless, he thought he needed to make it known he will return to Columbus for his Sophomore year.  I like the squad coming back next year with a starting lineup of Sullinger, Thomas, Craft, Buford, and TBD. It will be a different team than this year's, and with quite a few teams losing some big players to the NBA, I think Ohio State will have another successful season.

If I had to put money down on a champion I would choose Kentucky, but I will be pulling for Butler to win it all in Houston.

Now that I have finally moved on from OSU's devastating loss Friday, I am more than ready for Reds baseball.  I can't remember a season that looked more promising than this one.  It will be tough to repeat as Central division champions, now that everyone knows just how good the Reds are, but like this guy (a sports writer for USA Today), I think the Reds have what it takes to win the World Series for the first time since 1990.

"@BNightengale #mlb #reds The predictions from this corner are in: The Reds win the World Series

 beating the Boston Red Sox."

I can tell you it will be difficult to top last season, that was capped off by the new video on the blog, but I can't wait for this season, hopefully it will be one to remember.

One Weekend Down

What a weekend of games!  The upsets were few and far between in the first two days, but there were more close games than I can remember.  Starting off with WVU-Clemson and ending with Kansas St-Utah State, Thursday was jam-packed with entertaining games.  4 of the first 5 games ending on last second shots.  Here are a few of the best calls.. I am partial to Bill Raftery giving the "Onions" call.  You also have to love Butler winning again, and the announcer go to the built in line "The Butler did it again!"  I usually despise listening to these commentators, as they usually are uninformed, boring, and just plain stupid, but for some reason the NCAA Tournament brings out the best in them and they are some of the most memorable calls in sports history.  A few teams that came away from Thursday that had to be feeling good about themselves was Gonzaga, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin.  My bracket was also in pretty good shape, 12 out of 16.. Not too shabby

Tough day at Work 

Now on to Friday.. I forgot to mention earlier about just how sweet my work is.  Instead of everything "secretly" watching games on their computer, watching out to make sure the boss doesn't catch you, my boss set up a screen to watch in our large conference room.  Talk about winning.  Anyways.. Friday was a great day because it was time for Ohio State to start its 4-game run to Houston. Friday offered very little in the way of excitement, but Gus Johnson was announcing Friday, you knew there had to be at least one exciting game, and here it is. Texas-Memphis also provided us when a great ending, only this time it was an outstanding defensive play.. Marv Albert with the call (by the way, love Marv Albert) Friday had a large number of higher seeds playing the "little sisters of the poor" so that could explain the lack of excitement.  Winners on Friday include, Ohio State, who looked primed to make a run at the championship, North Carolina, and Texas, who had a huge win over underdog Oakland.  Bracket update: 24/32, I'll take it.

Now let the games begin. We are down to 32 teams, very few mismatches, let's go! Saturday started off with a dandy of a game between West Virginia and Kentucky.  Back and forth game until UK pulled away late in the 2nd half.  It was about time Calipari beat Huggins, still not a better coach though.  Florida just outplayed UCLA to advance to the Sweet 16. I think they were rooting for BYU to beat Gonzaga to have a shot to avenge their loss to them in the first round of the 2010 tournament when the Jimmer dropped 37 on the Gators.  UF got their wish as BYU absolutely blew out Gonzaga, playing perhaps the best game of any team in the tournament to that point.  Saturday night had some outstanding finishes.  San Diego St-Temple went double OT with SDSU having a shot to win at the end of regulation and OT #1, before pulling away in the second overtime.  Pitt and Butler had one of the craziest/mind-boggling finishes I have ever seen. Check it out.  Going into the Regionals, no team that played Saturday could feel better than the Cougars of BYU.  San Diego St feels pretty good as well, as they are playing 90 miles from home. The Show will be in full force in Anaheim. 

On to Sunday, the Buckeyes second game.  This one worried me as George Mason was experienced, and well-coached.  Ohio St didn't care, they played, by far, the best game of any team in the tournament. Winning by 32, and leaving Cleveland on an extremely high note.  Texas was beaten by Arizona on a great play by perhaps the best player in the tournament, Derrick Williams. Sunday night was chalk full of upsets as Florida St knocked off Notre Dame, First Four participant VCU continued their run by knocking off Purdue, and Marquette defeated Syracuse.  Bracket update: At this point in the tournament, everyone's bracket is "busted" and while I had quite a few picks go wrong, I still have all Final 4 teams remaining, and that's all you can ask for.  I currently have 33 out of 48 correct.

Re-evaluating the tournament.  The East is still the bracket with the most difficult road to the Final 4.  The top 3 seeds remaining have all played great to this point.  I still see Ohio State advancing on to Houston.  On the the West, San Diego St has an obvious geographical advantage over Duke and North Carolina.  Although they have not played great their first two games, I think SDSU fans come out in droves, and push the Aztecs to their first ever Final 4.  In the Southwest, Kansas has a cake walk with 3 double digit seeds remaining.  If they don't win each game by 15+, I would be worried.  In the Southeast, Butler-Wisconsin will be a great battle. Shelvin Mack on Jordan Taylor will be a great one-on-one matchup, I see Butler's run continuing.  BYU has the talent to beat Florida, and with neither team anticipating having a strong fan base in New Orleans, I believe most of the fans will jump on the back of The Jimmer and push BYU over the top.  I think BYU defeats Butler and advances to Houston.  Oh, and Gus Johnson is doing this region, so you know something out of the ordinary will happen, say like two crazy upsets and the one player all of America loves going off for 50.

It all starts tomorrow, my bracket is still not busted, and by Sunday night 4 teams will be planning a trip to Houston for a chance to win it all, hopefully they are all my predictions, as I could use the money, but more importantly so I have a chance to watch Ohio State in Reliant Stadium cut down the nets as the 2011 NCAA National Champions.

Go Bucks! 

The Donald

If you wasted 90 minutes last night like I did watching the Roast of Donald Trump, you'll understand where I am coming from on this next sentence.

Has the ever been a more uncomfortable/awkward 5 minutes in TV than Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino "roasting" Donald Trump?  He actually got booed.. in a celebrity roast, that's how bad it was.

He embarrassed himself more than he made fun of the rest of the dais.  When will this guy and the rest of these talentless jokes of human beings from the Jersey Shore just go away?  I still can not believe there are people who truly act and talk that way.  I don't know if people enjoy the show for the entertainment, or the shock value, either way, I hope it ends soon and these people can fall off the face of the Earth and "The Sitch" can go back to being this and his head can shrink down from being the size of Jupiter back to being the size of Mercury (a comparison for those who don't know the massive difference in size between the two.. )

Anyways, the rest of the roast was rather entertaining. I really like watching these things.  These guys just tear people apart, and I love it.  Lisa Lampanelli might be the funniest woman in comedy.  Jeff Ross is always good for one off-color joke that quickly garners the thought "Too soon?" My favorite roast came from Snoop Dogg, yes this guy outshone professional comics, all while getting to make fun of a rich white guy.  Snoop had to be in heaven.  Marlee Matlin, who by the way might be the hottest and funniest deaf woman in America, was extremely funny, until this ugly son of a bitch came out and ruined her set.

All in all, it was pretty funny, I just hope this was the beginning to the end of The Situation' fame.  I can't wait for their 20 minutes of fame to up.  America will be better off when we don't have to look at this anymore.

P.S. If The Donald runs for President in 2012 like he shamelessly announced last night, I have a strange feeling he would win and turn this country's economy around, quick.  I'm all for it.

March is finally here!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!! March Madness.. If those 2 words don't get you excited enough well then 1. I think you need to check your pulse and 2. I suggest you watch this. As a huge college basketball fan, I watch as many games and teams as possible.  Moving to Texas really killed the opportunity to watch Ohio State early on this season, but it did give me the opportunity to watch many of the top teams around the country.  I think it took a while for the rest of the country to realize just how good Ohio State could be this year.. I admit I fall into that category. Early on, I didn't think Duke would get beat all season.  The team lost two role players and added the best point guard in the country, they were unreal.  But then in the rematch of the 2010 NCAA Final against Butler, Irving hurt his foot, and Duke's title hopes shot.. Other teams I saw winning it all were Kansas, and Texas.. Both with imposing front lines, but both lacking point guard play.. As the new year turned and I got the chance to watch Ohio State, they really grew on me.. Perfect mix of young and old, post presence, and strong guard play.. The perfect pedigree for a championship.. The season wore on and the "experts" (yeah, I am talking to you wise guy) realized just how good this Ohio State team was..

This brings us to March 13th, Selection Sunday (which by the way means I get to listen to the best theme song ever non-stop for the next three weeks). Everyone knew Ohio State was getting the #1 overall seed, I was just hoping 3 teams, out of the other 67, would not be in Ohio State's bracket.. Kentucky, Texas, and North Carolina.. What do ya know.. Kentucky and UNC are both in OSU's bracket.. I thought Kentucky got a raw deal on a 4 seed, but what can ya do.. Overall, I have no complaints with the bracket, you can argue Colorado or Virginia Tech should've been in over UAB or VCU, but when it comes down to it, who really cares? These teams who's "bubble burst" had numerous chances to win games they should've won and they didn't. End. Of. Story.  All in all, you need to look at the Top 16 seeds, because that's where you champion is coming from, especially this year with so few elite teams.

Time for some bracket analysis starting in the East..

I think this is the toughest bracket Top to Bottom.. Ohio State has a Villanova/George Mason winner awaiting them.. 'Nova is struggling worse than Jerry Seinfeld trying to remember Dolores' name but has played great at times this season, and a George Mason team who was riding the nation's longest winning streak going into the CAA tournament.  West Virginia, under the great Bob Huggins, will always punch you in the mouth and play great defense.  Kentucky is loaded with freshman talent.. sound familiar? I think OSU escapes the top half of the bracket to face Syracuse.  The bottom of the bracket in the East is loaded with explosive offensive teams, none of the other squads can match-up to the 2-3 Zone of the 'Cuse though.  It will be a hell of a game in Newark, NJ with the Buckeyes facing the Orange, but I think Ohio State prevails in takes a trip south to Houston.

#1 seed in the West, Duke, doesn't have a much easier road.  Tennessee has a chance to upset Duke as long as Bruce Pearl isn't thinking like this or dressed like this. Scottie Hopson can take over that game as Duke has no wing player who could guard him. Oakland has an outstanding chance of upsetting Texas. Keith Benson and company beat Tennessee in Knoxville, and played WVU, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, and Ohio State.. No other mid-major can say they played that competition. Oakland will be ready. I like San Diego St to advance to the Sweet 16 where they will be playing in Anaheim and hold a huge home court advantage over anyone they play, be it Connecticut, Cincinnati, or Duke.  I like the Aztecs led by Kawhi Leonard to march to Houston to face the Buckeyes.

In the Southwest, I don't see Kansas having much difficulty winning 4 games at all.  Their biggest fight will come from Louisville, a team that likes to run, press, and shoot the 3.. The type of team that can pull an upset in March.  Kansas faces Purdue in the Elite 8, and Kansas moves on to the Final 4.

In the Southeast, Pitt seems to have a pretty simple walk to the Final 4.  However, I don't envision them advancing there.  Their 2nd round match-up regardless of opponent will not be easy, then you have a Kansas State team that seems to be playing well at the right time of the year, and if you had the choice of playing hard or answering to this, would you play your guts out?  I think K-State has the chance to roll through the first weekend and take some confidence down to New Orleans to face the Panthers.  The bottom half of the bracket has The Jimmer, an over-rated Florida team, and a bunch of teams that I just don't scare.  I think Jimmer leads the Cougars to their first Final 4 in school history.. It will be difficult without Brandon Davies, the Cougars lone post threat who got kicked off the team from breaking BYU's Honor Code by admitting he had pre-marital sex with his girlfriend, which actually doesn't sound as bad as the new story being reported. Either way, when you're lead by a guy who can shot the ball from anywhere on the court, and that guy's name is Jimmer.. I like you..

In the Final 4 in Houston, I think Ohio State defeats San Diego St, and Kansas takes care of BYU, setting up an OSU-Kansas National Championship in Houston, which I will undoubtedly spend whatever money I have to drive down and attend.  When it's all said and done, I think the Buckeyes will be the ones celebrating in Reliant Stadium, cutting down the nets, and enjoying their own One Shining Moment

I can't wait for March Madness, I can't wait for Thursday to come, and most of all...I can't wait to hear Gus Johnson go crazy.

There is nothing better than the next 3 weeks.