Congrats, UCONN!

My girls did it!  The Lady Huskies are the 2010 NCAA Women's Basketball Champions.  Back-to-back undefeated seasons.  Unbelievable.  They are 11 wins away from overtaking UCLA's record for most consecutive wins.  And, Coach Geno Auriemma is one championship away from tying Pat Summit's record of eight championships.  Both shall be done. 

P.S. Notice I didn't congratulate Duke on their win.  That was intentional.  I'm a hater.

Photo credit:  AP/Eric Gray

Ballin'!!!

Take a brief step away from the madness, and let's talk money and college basketball.  As we all know, the sports industry is a huge moneymaker, but what exactly does that mean for these basketball programs at D1 schools?

For the third consecutive year, Forbes.com has ranked the Top 20 Most Valuable College Basketball teams, based on the following four factors (in order of weight):

1. The value of contributions to the institution for academic purposes, including scholarships for basketball players.

2. The net profit generated by the basketball program retained by the athletic department.

3. The value contributed to conference peers via tournament revenue.

4.  Estimated direct spending by visitors to the county attributable to home basketball games.

Ranked at #1 for two straight years and valued at $29 million are the North Carolina Tar Heels.  Coming off of their 2009 Championship, the Tar Heels are stacking their chips and saving for a rainy day.  Good thing they are, because ladies and gentlemen, that rainy day has arrived!  Last year, 2009 NCAA Champs, this year, a round-trip ticket straight to the NIT.  Can't wait to see how a disappointing season impacts their 2011 ranking. 

And, because you simply can't mention UNC without hearing Duke (or vice versa), the Blue Devils are ranked #11 with a value of $16.4 million.  For the second consecutive year, their value has dropped.  The steady decline is attributed to their enormous operations budget which is 50% more than any other team.  This seems a bit excessive, especially when they share a market with UNC.  Anytime twice as much money is spent to do the same job, questions should be asked, eyebrows should be raised, and people should be fired.  Just sayin'.

For the complete list of rankings, check out the article and slideshow. 

You may now return to your regularly scheduled program with beer in one hand, bracket sheet in the other.

Gus Johnson: Mr. March Madness

If you've been following the NCAA Tournament for the past 15 years then you know that Gus Johnson aka Mr. March Madness, as I like to refer to him, is the man!  He's so good that he also serves as the play-by-play announcer for the Knicks, Big Ten Network, NFL and a few other sports.  

However, I love him most for the value he contributes to the NCAA Tournament.  There is no one better at calling the play-by-play of these games.  Period. Point blank.  End of discussion.  Gus gets into the "holiday spirit" and truly. loses. his. mind.    There's no way he can contain himself.  What I love most is that he doesn't even try.  His overt and unapologetic passion and excitement shows his pure and genuine love of the game.  For that reason, his level of hypeness gets me amped.  It's contagious! 

His calls go something kind of like this...wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...SCREAMING + SCREAMING! + MORE SCREAMING!!!  Nothing but pure awesomeness!  I love it!!!  As he's yelling at the top of his lungs, it's almost guaranteed that everyone in the bar is yelling right along with him.  Jumping up and down and making themselves dizzy from whatever they just witnessed. 

Everything about Johnson's play-by-play delivery is what makes this tournament so great. The unpredictability of each game always makes Johnson's outbursts seem like they come out of nowhere.  If you, for whatever reason, walk away from the TV for 5 seconds, all you need to do his hear Johnson's voice go 10 octaves higher and you'll know you missed something amazing.  Shame on you.


When Gus isn't calling a game, I often wonder if he's somewhere screaming like he's doing it for TV.  I think I curse CBS at least five times during the tourney when I realize that another play-by-play team is covering that game.  I feel cheated.  It's almost as if I wish they'd just patch Gus in and have him deliver the last minute or two of each game, just because.  I'm sure anyone who matters would be ok with that.

In case you're wondering, here's Gus Johnson's NCAA Tournament first round announcing schedule:

• Fri, 3/19 @ 12:15 ET – #2 West Virginia v #15 Morgan State
• Fri, 3/19 @ 2:35 ET – #7 Clemson v #10 Missouri
• Fri, 3/19 @ 7:10 ET – #8 Gonzaga v #9 Florida State
• Fri, 3/19 @ 9:30 ET – #1 Syracuse v #16 Vermont

Gus will then be announcing the winners of these games on Sunday.

If you're interested in anyone else's schedule, check it out here. 

We'll have to get through Day 1 without Gus, but on Friday, it's Gus (and Len Elmore) all day long.  Until then,  enjoy this. 

It's Tourney Time!

The NCAA Tournament tips-off on CBS in less than 24 hours!  If you haven't done so already, make your picks now!

Also, to all my sports heads holding it down at the j-o-b during the day, and having a breakdown about not being able to watch the games on TV, I'm about to change your life.   Actually, all credit goes to Mashable, but I'm putting you on, so give me some love when you pay it forward.

Mashable put together a great list of how social media + technology will help you keep track of your bracket(s), blow outs, and upsets.  From real-time tweets +  watching live games online  or on your iPhone/iPod Touch, they've covered it all.

Don't take my word for it, see for yourself!

You're welcome.

I'm Focused, Man.

Last year this time, I was in South Africa on vacation. Sounds awesome, right?  Yeah, it was, except for the fact that I completely missed Champs Week.  Yep, I was bugging when I planned that trip with my friends.  Once I realized the mistake I made, it was too late.  Trip was paid for, dates were locked, and there was nothing I could do about it.  What a setup. The only positive thing was that I'd return in time for the NCAA Tournament with a couple of days to get my picks in. That put me at ease until I got realistic with myself and admitted that I had no shot at the big prize.   I immediately returned to panic mode because I already knew that I'd be taking a quick dive straight to the bottom of all five of my pools.

See, I don't really start following college basketball until March.  Don't worry.  There's a method to my madness.  With the NFL going until early February and the NBA in full swing, I feel like something has to take a back seat.  For me, it's college bball.  And, based on past experiences, I know I can't handle a full season of college basketball.  I get too emotionally attached.  It's bad.  For these reasons, I decided to invest a little later in the game and just go hard as hell once March hits.  I start scouting teams, players, and coaches.  I give my money, time, and emotions, all in the name of filling out my brackets.

So, this two-week trip to SA completely ruined my whole game plan.  Never again.  I totally learned my lesson.  Returning from a trip of a lifetime to only have regrets that I missed a marathon game between Syracuse and UConn was not what's up and will NEVER happen again.

New Rule: From now on, I pledge to stick to the script.  March is officially reserved for Madness. March is reserved for devoting hours upon hours of watching nothing but college basketball.  March is reserved for cramming a season's worth of stats, analysis and info into 2 weeks.  March is reserved for skimming blogs and hoarding newspapers/magazines, searching for the inside scoop.  March is now and I'm ready!


photo credit:  Drew Litton

Lady Huskies Rewrite HERstory!

In honor of Women's History Month, I felt compelled to write about Women's sports.  It's only right.  I didn't really put any thought behind what the focus would be, but then the University of Connecticut's Lady Huskies won 71 consecutive games by defeating Notre Dame 59-44, today.  This was suddenly a no-brainer!

What's even more incredible is that they rewrote their own history!  Yep, they previously held the record for most consecutive victories with 70 wins from 2001-2003. Today, they're sitting pretty at the top of women's college basketball with 71 wins.  What other sport organizations, pro or collegiate can boast such an accomplishment?  OK, the '71-'74 UCLA Bruins, coached by Hall of Famer John Wooden, are still clutching to their 88 wins, but besides them?  What an amazing feat!

First of all, much respect to coach Geno Auriemma. The Lady Huskies have been under his leadership since 1985.  His resume is stacked with 6 National Championships, 10 Final Four appearances, and over 25 combined Big East Conference and Tournament Championships.  After 25 years, the University of Connecticut women's basketball program continues to dominate.  Whether it was Nykesha Sales, Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, or current team leaders Tina Charles and Maya Moore, the goal is always the same...WIN.  And, don't expect their program to fall off anytime soon.  They're constant success will only result in continuing to win over the top recruits in the country.  Get used to it!


I know I'll be rooting for them as they compete in the Big East tourney and move on to the NCAA Tournament.  My hope for them is to cut down the nets in April, lace up in November, and continue the streak.  Go after the Bruins record.  Let's get it!  Big East, stand up!

I'll Admit It: I Was Wrong!

It's March, so you know what's coming...MADNESS!  In thinking about what lies ahead for this year's tourney, I couldn't help but think about last year's college bball season.  While reminiscing, one person stuck out in my mind...Stephen Curry! 

Last year was baby faced Curry's year.  He led the nation in scoring with 26.8 points per game and broke damn near every record at Davidson College.  Even though the guard attended a mid-major, he had the attention of the whole country.  Remember when Loyola College double and triple-teamed him the whole game causing him to go scoreless for the first time in his career? Yeah, he was that big of a deal.  

Currently listed as 6'3 and 185 lbs. (he's bulked up since college), many critics (including me-- yes, I'm a self-anointed critic) didn't think the 21 year old had what it took to hang with the big boys in the League.  Don't get me wrong, I'd watched him play.  I knew that he could shoot and score.  After all, former NBA player and sharp-shooter, Dell Curry, is his father.  However, despite all of that, I still wasn't a believer.  From my small-minded perspective, there was no way that someone of Steph's small stature could compete with the big bodied players that dominate the league.  Yes, names like Isiah Thomas and Steve Nash ring a bell, but I still wasn't convinced that Steph's game could translate to success in the NBA.

Before Steph was selected seventh in last year's draft by the Golden State Warriors, I remember hearing chatter about the Knicks being interested in Curry.  I was adamantly against "us" selecting him.  I enjoyed watching him play, but I just didn't believe the hype.  

OK, fast forward to the second half of Curry's rookie season.   I WAS WRONG!   I am now a believer!  This boy can ball!  He'll drive to the basket, get popped, hit the shot, draw the foul, and bounce back up a la Allen Iverson. The no look passes, the long J's, and his quick hands make his game so thorough and fun to watch.  What excites me the most is that he's only a rookie.  He's going to continue to get better as he gains experience and gets stronger.  

Sad times for us now though because the Warriors have the third worst record in the NBA.  You know what that means...no national shine.  This is too bad because I think NBA fans would enjoy seeing more of Stephen's game.  Until then, we'll have to settle for this.