The Fab 5: Attack of the Baldheads

As a young impressionable preteen in the early 1990s, my life's mosaic included hard hitting DJ Premier beats, choreographing dance routines to Slam by Onyx, memorizing M-E-T-H-O-D Man, watching Homey D. Clown, wearing baggy jeans w/ combat boots, falling in love with Omar Epps as Q in Juice and declaring the Fab Five my favorite college basketball players.  

And for this reason, I can't think of a greater sports moment worth reliving more than The Fab Five Era, despite the unfortunate ending.  The story of how hip hop bred, inner-city youth Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, and Chris Webber forever changed college basketball's culture will be chronicled during The Fab Five on ESPN, Sunday at 9PM/ET.

Jalen Rose spearheaded the project and recruited Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King to join him.  Chris Webber, involved in a federal investigation for money laundering which eventually led to NCAA sanctions and the removal of Final Four banners, declined to participate in the production of the documentary with his friends and former teammates. 

However, Chris Webber's lack of involvement does not mean the documentary will overlook the role he played in the sudden rise and eventual fall of one of college basketball's most memorable recruiting classes.  Nor, should Webber's charges overshadow the significant impact the Fab Five made on an entire generation.

There's a reason their story is being told twenty years later.  Be sure to watch ESPN on Sunday at 9 PM/ET.

If you're like me, eagerly awaiting the premiere of The Fab Five documentary, wet your appetite with a little taste below.

PRESS PLAY: ESPN FIRST TAKE W/ JALEN ROSE, JIMMY KING, AND RAY JACKSON



PRESS PLAY:  THE FAB FIVE DOCUMENTARY TRAILER

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