Monday, March 26, 2007

Quick Hits

A couple things about the Final Four on this Monday morning...
  • Four great teams in the Final Four that each had great odds going into the tournament.
  • A few great big players in this group. It will be interesting to see Hibbert go against Oden considering they are each used to playing against guys who are at least two to three inches shorter than them. Both guys are 7'1" and are beasts.
  • An interesting group of coaches. None of the big names of the past 15 years (Pitino, K, Williams, Calhoun, etc) unless you count Donavan as a big name at this point. All are relatively younger coaches with young teams and programs on the rise. While Donavan has already won a championship and is looking to become a later day Coach K, the other three are looking to establish a Final Four tradition of their own.
  • The two players a hate the most...Hibbert and Mata (UCLA). Honorable mention goes to Patrick Ewing Jr.
  • Player I am rooting hardest for? Obviously Joakim Noah. My boy from high school who plays harder than anyone in America. I hope he wins it again, and he deserves everything he has gotten because he has had to work his ass off for it.
  • Championship game match-up? Right now I am thinking Ohio St. vs Florida...rematch of the BCS Title Game.
  • Pro prospects galore in this Final Four. Could be as much as eight or nine first round picks within these games, much of which can be found in the frontcourts.
  • Best individual match-up in the Semifinal games? Like I said earlier, Hibbert and Oden in the Ohio St./Georgetown game and Cory Brewer/Aaraon Afflalo in the other Semifinal (assuming they match-up).
  • Not looking forward to a weekend of Billy Packer and Jeem Nantz.
  • Think about this sports triple decker or double burger or any other name you think is better.....Friday evening I have my much anticipated baseball fantasy draft for "The League". You will hear much more about this league over the course of the season due to the fact that all four contributors are a part of this. On Saturday there are the National Semifinal Games. Sunday is opening day for the future 2007 World Series Champion Mets as they look to get revenge from last years NLCS in St. Louis. Lastyle, on Monday is the NCAA Championship game. BTW...the fantasy draft is being held at Foxwoods. We are that damn cool.
  • One funny part of the Peyton Manning SNL was his fake commercial for the NFL United Way. Definitely check it out on YouTube..
  • Oh, and Kobe is the man. He belongs alongside Wilt, Kareem, MJ and possibly Shaq as one of the most unstoppable offensive forces in the history of the League. he is what makes the Lakers not title contenders (yet) but just maybe the most dangerous team for a first round upset.

STKAFI

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who are the athletic directors at Florida and Ohio State? Are these guys geniuses, does the praise need to go to other actors in these programs or is this just a lucky and short dominant streak that will soon be over? You guys need to write a column about this phenomenon. Plus, Neal I like how you pretend there are people that read this blog that don't who you are.

Anonymous said...

How can someone who enjoys watching college basketball possible root for Joakim Noah? He's by far the biggest clown in the NCAA right now. The only reason it appears that he "works hard" is because of his classless antics every time he scores one of his 12 points a game. He's arguably the third best player on his team so he feels the need to draw attention to himself at the expense of any semblence of class and dignity. Look no further than his "celebration" after the SEC Championship. I can't wait until he's sitting at the end of a NBA bench and finished ruining any college basketball game he's in.