Morning Afternoon Roundup - 3/07/08
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| Mouthguard AND brand placement? |
| Well done, sir. |
THE GAME EVERYONE TALKED ABOUT (SORT OF)
Timber …
#3 UCLA 77, #7 Stanford 67 (OT)
The bigger they are, the harder they … something something. This kind of loss should take the wind out of the sails of those damn treehuggers sleepin’ in that redwood. [listens to whispers backstage] Wait, that’s at Berkeley? Eh, one of them hippie schools in the Bay Area; pretty much the same place, aren’t they?
Utter collapse by the Cardinal, which will never cease being a really lame mascot. Double digit lead with five minutes to go? Meaningless - when the Bruins decide to switch it on, it’s ballgame. But it should scare the shit out of Ukkluh fans that it took 35 minutes for such a switch to occur. This is unquestionably the most talented team in the country, and we still think they are losing before the Final Four. Also, the golden ‘C’ on the jersey is remarkably stupid. Unless it’s to commemorate something historic. In which case it’s only whisper-behind-its-back stupid.
THE GAME YOU SHOULD HAVE WATCHED INSTEAD
There wasn’t one. UCLA-Stanford was the best game of the night on paper and on hardwood. Of course, there are some people whose cable/internet went out for twelve hours, so just for all of us you …. (not that we’re bitter):
Arena Finally Lives Up to Name; Immediately Closed
St. Joseph’s 71, #8 Xavier 68
Last night was the last home game in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse for the Hawks (they’ll play in the Palestra next season while AMF gets renovated), and they scored a huge win over Xavier to set up a “loser gets the NIT, winner gets heartburn” matchup against Dayton on Saturday.
St. Joe’s won the game with teamwork (five players in double digits) and strong defense down the stretch - but not if you read the lead for the AP wire story afterwards. Noooo …. you know who won this game for the Hawks? Jameer Nelson - just by showing up. Has nothing to do with the fact that he’s the only person from St. Joe’s most sportswriters can name (save Dr. Jack, natch.)
FOUR TOURNAMENTS WORTH ONE LINE APIECE
Atlantic Sun - Mustache-tastic Lipscomb shaved by MTSU.
Northeast - Hehehe … Mount St. Mary’s … hahahahah … [wipes tears] … but seriously folks, we’re going to hell.
Missouri Valley - Thousands of teenage boys accept what we have long known: Shockers are surprisingly ineffective.
Big South - Top-seeded UNC-Asheville rolls to finals, but must face three time defending champs Winthrop. Don’t ever fuck with Winthrop.
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| Looking good, Billy Ray! Feeling good, Louis! |
1
the “C” stands for the Roman numeral 100 to commemorate UCLA being the first school with 100 total NCAA team championships. Something like that is on every UCLA team’s jersey, though this is a one year deal. And as a UCLA fan, I know familiarity breeds contempt, but there is no way this is the most talented team in the country. Memphis, North Carolina, and Kansas all have UCLA beat athletically. The reason UCLA seems to “turn it on” at times is that no team in the past ten years has come close to the level of defense that UCLA plays when it flips the switch. Ben Howland is simply a defensive magician; he singlehandedly turned the Pac 10 into the roughest league in the country.
You may very well be right about the Bruins losing in the elite 8; the tendency to sleepwalk, even for 30 minutes against Stanford for the Pac 10 title at home, is worrisome, and Josh Shipp is not close to the shooter he was at the beginning of the year. What I see as the main positive, though, is that Darren Collison has finally returned to full speed after being injured most of the year. With respect to DJ Augustin, who beat UCLA at Pauley in Collison’s first game back from his big knee injury, no point guard in the country can match Collison’s burst. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, as well, quietly was the top rebounder rather than Kevin Love, a good sign of him embracing the skills that made him so great as a freshman that he mostly ignored last year as he attempted to show that he was a normal 3 guard to NBA scouts.
If UCLA keeps sleepwalking through games and relying on ineffectual jumpshooting, a loss before the Final Four is probable. If UCLA flips the defense switch early enough in games and Collison and Love continue to carry the team on the offensive end, your prediction will probably be wrong.
Comment by Alex — March 7, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
2
Man, for most of that game I was walking on air because I picked (and blogged about) the Cardinals upsetting UCLA. Then for the last six minutes I was dumbfounded. What a collapse!
Comment by Gabby — March 7, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
3
Not every school will proudly claim 47 women’s cross country championships, various water sport NC’s and a few marksmanship NC’s to go along with the 11 b-ball titles.
Comment by oaklandbear — March 7, 2008 @ 6:12 pm
4
#3 - The way Cal fans talk, you would think they’d actually done something in the last 50 years. Meanhwile, Ben Braun has Cal 9th in the Pac-10, ahead of an Oregon State team that might be the worst in conference history.
Get your own house in order before you start running your mouth, Oski
Comment by The Ghost of Tyus Edney — March 8, 2008 @ 2:33 am