Under normal circumstances, an 8 or even 11 seed making the Final Four would be reason to celebrate the tournament as wildly watchable and intriguing. George Mason’s run in 2006 is  a perfect example. This year however, the first year with 68 teams, the tournament seemed overcrowded and the result was underwhelming. Upsets were so prevalent that they were more disappointing that “good” teams couldn’t live to expectations than unexpectedly exciting. We had a perfect contradiction on the opposite sides of the Final Four: two young, dynamic, exciting, clean coaches faced each other as two depressing, corrupt standards squared off in the other game. That the crustiest, NCAA-violation-est of them all got the hardware just makes it worse.

What’s more, all my complaints have nothing to do with the great play that won 67 games. The UConn players’ determination, winning 11 tough games in a row, is both remarkable and laudable – though overshadowed by the cheating coach. VCU had an amazing tournament, it’s really too bad that it allows the NCAA to justify the First Four, which is a travesty. VCU played spectacularly to win 5 games, then was beaten by Butler who laid an egg for the championship, a disappointing lasting memory. The Big East made a huge statement with 11 teams into the tournament, then proved a paper tiger by only getting two into the second weekend.

All in all, this tournament proved that  unpredictable did not mean exciting.

The last couple years have seen a huge increase in awareness of the effects of concussions. Players are “protected” by hard foam cushions, but brain trauma is caused by acceleration and jerk (rate of change of acceleration), so as long as hits are sudden, players will suffer concussions. In fact, the clattering of linemen bashing their heads together, even over the tiny distance they’ve been moving, does more cumulative damage than any other activity in sport. Hitting is a more marginal part of hockey, but are no less destructive. They tend to happen extremely fast and plexiglass and ice are not forgiving surfaces.

In both sports, the body count is starting to pile up. Cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – George Carlin would have had something to say about such a euphemistic moniker – are increasingly common. CTE causes drastically shorter life expectancy (NFL linemen die 18 years sooner than the average man, Bob Probert was only 45) as well as serious depression (Dave Duerson, Marc Savard) .

The question cannot be ignored any longer. How do we protect athletes from the dangers inherent in their sport?

suckit, Self.

~#2 Kansas’s loss came at the hands of #3 Texas, who themselves lost to #4 Pitt and #6 UConn. Pitt only has 2 losses, UConn and Texas have 3.
~Last week, #8 BYU beat #7 SDSU.
~St. John’s has beaten #12 Georgetown, #9 Notre Dame, and #5 Duke, but isn’t ranked.  There are 3 ranked teams that haven’t beaten a single ranked team.
~#10 Kentucky has lost to 4 unranked teams.

The best part of it all is that this poll is actually pretty good. This season has been fraught with inconsistent play, close calls, and a standout lack of standout teams.

Seahawks: 7-9

Saints: 11-5

So, of course, they play the first round in Seattle, where the Seahawks win a close game. Absurd on nearly every count. Saints fans are justified feeling let down by their team and the system.

Next to the sudden death, this is a huge flaw in the way the NFL works. It’s actually kinda funny…

I’ll disclaim myself immediately. I’m a fan of Auburn and Cam Newton, and they’re my pick to win.

Both teams are offensive monsters, and the outcome of the game seems to hinge on which defense can force the other to give the ball away more. It’s the Tiger’s defensive line, anchored by Nick Fairley, that I believe will be able to accomplish that feat.

It’s absolutely true: Oregon will run an opponent into the ground. Their pace, combined with the coaches’ dogmatic insistence that it’s maintained, has left defenses’ lungs burning as the Ducks’ lead builds. LaMichael James is a terror on the ground, Darron Thomas is dangerous both through the air and on the ground.

Auburn’s offense is much more one that will grind an opponent into the ground. Gus Malzahn runs an essentially standard offense, but from such odd and varied formations that defense are constantly off guard. The Tigers have a full complement of talented receivers and backs, a larger roster of dangerous options than Oregon.

While Thomas is a good throwing quarterback and Auburn has a highly vulnerable secondary, the Ducks are dependent on the rushing game, where Auburn’s defense is best. James will almost assuredly get outside and have a long run or three, but I expect him to be mostly kept under control. Like most SEC defenses, Auburn’s is strong and fast. I expect there will always be a Tiger between Oregon and the huge play, they must tackle well. On the occasions that coverage is tight, expect the highly-conditioned Duck offensive line to be overpowered by the Tigers, the coverage sack will be a real issue for Oregon.

On the other side, Auburn will mostly be able to do whatever it likes. They’ve shown themselves capable winning with no passing game or with no ground game. They’re a grind-it-out team, at least compared to Oregon.

The difference in the offenses is their pace and method of effectiveness. Auburn is slower and stronger, growing more effective with more plays. Oregon is exhaustively fast-paced, growing more effective with more possessions (the difference there being because Oregon averages 4 plays to a scoring drive). If Auburn can keep their drives long and run 2-4 times as many offensive plays as Oregon, they’ll be in great shape to win.

My prediction isn’t too bold. If it’s a shootout, Oregon wins. If not, edge to Auburn.

College Basketball – Especially Duke and Illinois. I’m annoyed by suggested strength of the Big East, but the ruffians of the Northeast are again some of the most effective basketball teams in the country. Also interesting to follow: how highly ranked can SDSU gets before they have to play anybody?

Hockey – The NHL is the best spectator league in America. Fast-paced, aggressive, and highly-skilled. It’s like if the NFL was more than a high-priced dog and pony show.

One more bowl game. Sure, there’s a Cotton Bowl tonight (7p cst, FOX. My prediction: LSU wins going away), but the only team I’m anxious to see is Auburn v Oregon. I’ll write up my preview shortly.

EDIT: CALLED IT!!!

There’s something about games in January, the Big Ten simply cannot win them. All season, the Badgers were a fast-moving offensive juggernaut. They wander into the Rose Bowl and look like that team that averaged more than 40 points and overran the spectacular Ohio State and Iowa defenses (both of which were good enough to win their own bowl games, by the way). But only for the first quarter. After the first 15 minutes, the game slowed to an absolute crawl. I cannot fathom how or why it happened, but it killed the energy of the game.

Then Wisconsin put the ball in the endzone to get within two points and made the stupidest call of the game. Their life had been on the ground, but they called an empty-backfield short pass for the two point try. Inevitably unsuccessful, and TCU’s shortest drive of the half was plenty to give them the win.

It was an ignominious cap to a horrible day for the Big Ten, who got blown out in their five bowl games by a total of 100 points. At some point, somebody’s going to have to tell them how to prep for a bowl. Maybe the constant failings of his teams on the field will finally get commissioner Jim Delaney to support a playoff…

The argument in their favor is that they beat everybody they play.  Sounds pretty good.  But there are plenty of high school teams that have won 20 games in a row as well.  Yes, they’re different levels of play, but the competition gap is still there.

I’ve watched both of BSU’s big games this year (the only two games against major conferences, the only two games against teams that ever had a chance of beating… anybody).  The Broncos won, yes, but VT couldn’t even beat JMU at that phase of their season.  So we’re going to leave that game with a big ‘ole asterisk.  And Oregon State?  Do we really think they’re a top 25 team?  They’re 3-3, the 55th best offense and 93rd best defense.  Their average game is a loss, for goodness sake.  Not impressive to beat them.

So, now that this weekend is something of a “leapfrog”, let’s look at the games.  BSU beats a 1-7 high school squad, while Auburn puts the hurting on 7-0 #6 LSU.  War Eagle has beaten 3 top 12 teams and hasn’t played a single team with less than 3 wins.  BSU has played 2 teams with more than 3 wins.

It’s absolutely ridiculous to suggest that Boise State is better than Auburn or Oregon, and I’d gladly suggest that MSU, Mizzou, Alabama, Wisconsin, OSU, and LSU are all better than Boise.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t pile on the praise for Roy Halladay, whose performance against a pretty decent Reds offense was totally spectacular.  For those unaware, it was only the 2nd no-hitter in MLB postseason history (the other was Don Larsen perfect game in the 1956 World Series).  The two do not really deserve to be held in similar esteem, but Halladay was spectacular.  Going into the game, there were understandable questions of Halladay – this was his first postseason start, how would he fare?  Coming out of it, the question becomes: what’s next?!?!

There is such a thing as overzealous officiating, and I’m afraid we’ve reached that level.

Maybe they’re just overcompensating for a complete lack of holding calls, who knows…

Seems like the Reggie Bush story is finally over.  A bunch of wins, a national championship, and a Heisman award all must disappear to pay the price.  I suppose that’s the point of amateur athletics, but these punishments really should apply to more than just the school.

Speaking of punishments needing to follow people, John Calipari’s squad cannot escape the flashing lights.  We’ve still got to see what’s left to be dished out over the Eric Bledsoe junk, but the punishment is certainly coming.  Meanwhile, Calipari’s recruiting a professional.  This is a pretty simple story.  If Kanter plays, I give up on the NCAA’s ability to police.

UNC’s tutoring situation is laughably stupid, impressive pervasive, and (as a Duke fan) really fun to watch.  The vast majority of these players are going to be just fine, picked in the draft, and well-paid.  The support staff and coaches who made this possible will be fired, but find someplace else to work and leave their crimes behind (a huge problem in NCAA sentencing) and UNC football’s going to have some trouble recruiting.

As I really don’t care about the football program, I’m really hoping that some of this investigation finds a chink in ‘ole Roy’s facade, but I’ll just have to wait and see.

As a Illini fan, it brings me particular pleasure to turn to the newest story.  Bruce Pearl is a ridiculous caricature of a coach.  He’s a sneaky, dirty rat, and now it’s out that he’s also a cheater.  There’s even photographic evidence of it.  Karma’s a bitch, huh Bruce?

Obviously, there are issues in all conferences and sports, but does anybody else get the feeling that the SEC is leading the way in violations?  Coaches seem to think so.

DJ puts his ball into the gallery, onto a bit of sand.  He plays a poor ball out of there, but saved himself a tie for the tournament.  Except that after the hole, the rule folks decide, for the first time in the tournament, that they’re going to check the video reply.  This was hardly the first time a ball ended up on one of these waste areas.

There is no question he grounded his club.  That’s not the point.  The point is that what he was standing over was not a bunker.  There was grass growing in it.  There were people currently standing in it.

This was the PGA championship, that sort of thing is not allowed to happen in intentional parts of the course.  You cannot leave a patch of dirt untended for years, let it be part of the gallery, then call it a bunker!  Absolutely absurd.

I used to think that golf was simply boring, now I also know it’s just plain stupid.

But clearly, it did.  The culprit is simple: too much ‘care.’  Since the debut of the pitch count as a statistic, coaches have become more and more concerned with how much work pitchers get.  At a certain level, it’s a good thing for the athletes.  Little League has a pitch limit and it helps protect growing arms from the overwork that had plagued and injured pre-teens.

But the difference between arm strength, endurance, and fatigue is much different in a grown man than it is a child.  Yet pitchers tend to work less as Major Leaguers than they did as kids.  This is completely backwards.

The Rangers and Nolan Ryan have it right. The rest of the league is hurting its pitching staffs, underworking them to brittle arms.  The examples, unfortunately, are plentiful (Mark Prior and Rich Harden spring immediately to mind).  And now Strasburg has joined them.  It’s a real shame, I hope his fortune (and workout scheme) changes for the better.

Here’s ESPN’s punchline:

“All of which adds up to a pretty enticing scenario: Coach K’s familiarity with the fast-break offense, a lightning-quick point guard wreaking havoc in the open court, two multi-talented All-Americans playing off the ball, and a host of role players filling the lane and crashing the boards. That doesn’t just sound successful. It sounds fun to watch.”

Awesome.

Some headstrong youngster makes the easy pass to wide open Torres and the end of the match is comfortable for the Spanish.  At any rate, a highly entertaining, very intense match.  Glad my predicted champion is still alive, the championship match will be awesome.

3rd place should prove to be interesting as well.  Two very high-octane offenses will bash each other on Saturday afternoon, I can’t help but wonder if they’ll bother playing much defense…

[oops, meant to publish this yesterday...]

If anything, I’d say that their quarterfinal created some momentum for a rule change: clear goals illegally kept out should stand, rather than be given for penalty kicks.  Especially in this day and age, a pk isn’t nearly as guaranteed as a situation like the one we saw in the Ghana game deserves.

A true championship-quality match on Wednesday afternoon awaits us all.  Germany have looked unflappable and unstoppable, clearing out their opposition.  However, they’re missing the brilliant Mueller for this match (an illogical yellow cost him big).  That may be enough to give Spain an edge, though they may have already had it with their you-can’t-touch-the-ball control.

I’ve been waiting for Torres to put the ball in the net.  I think he can do it and Spain can get the win.  No matter what the outcome, it’ll be a match for the ages.

ESPN, 1:30pm cdt