I finally realized why my blogs

.... have been so few and far between lately - I'm just not interested in sports right now. The only reason I have even been watching this dumb tournament is because I feel like I'm under some sort of obligation to at least act like I'm enjoying it. It's like every heterosexual male age 18-to-49 has to be excited this time of year about college basketball and filling out brackets and telling everyone whose going to win. My problem is I already know who is going to win. The team that I bet against. So there's just not much suspense involved.

As I watch Maryland and Memphis (Two teams Georgetown beat) battle it out for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen hours after watching Villanova (Another team Georgetown beat) advance to the next round, I will throw out a few NCAA Tourney thoughts:

* There's been a lot of talk about how overrated the Big 10 is and how they did not deserve 7 NCAA bids. While I still don't think they deserved as many bids as they got, I have to admit that I was impressed with them going 4-3 in the first round. The Pac 10 went 5-1 and the Big 12 went an incredible 6-0 in a performance that only Austin saw coming. So where are all the losses coming from? The ACC went an embarrassing 3-4 in Round 1. 7 seed Boston College lost to 10 seed USC. 7 seed Clemson lost to 10 seed Michigan. 5 seed Florida St lost to 12 seed Wisconsin. And 4 seed Wake Forest got run out of the gym by 13 seed Cleveland St. But this is nothing new for the ACC. They are overseeded every season.

In 2008: #5 Clemson lost to #12 Villanova and #2 Duke lost to #7 West Virginia. Big East basketball.

In 2007: #6 Duke lost to #11 VCU, #4 Maryland lost to #5 Butler, #4 Virginia lost to #5 Tennessee and #1 UNC lost to #2 Georgetown in an East Regional Final that feels like it was about 20 years ago.

- That Duke team really bothered me. They went .500 in the ACC and lost in the first round of the ACC Tournament and they got a 6 seed? This was the same year that Syracuse finished 5th or 6th in the Big East and didn't even make the field.

In 2006: #1 Duke lost to #4 LSU and #3 UNC lost to #11 George Mason.

In 2005: #2 Wake Forest lost to #7 West Virginia and #1 Duke lost to #5 Michigan St.

Feels like Duke was on that list a lot. Watch out for the Longhorns tonight.

Now I should mention that in 2005, a 10th seeded NC State team made a run to the Sweet Sixteen and UNC won the national championship, so it's not like every ACC team chokes out of this tournament. And there are always upsets in March and no conference is immune to it. But the fact of the matter is no conference gets as much blind credit from the committee year after year as the ACC does. Their teams ALWAYS get the benefit of the doubt. Look at Maryland who finished 7-9 in the ACC and lost to Georgetown by about 40 points on a neutral floor but still got an at large bid. They're really giving Memphis a run for their money today.

The funny thing is that next year in late February - early March, the Eds of the world will all be rushing to tell us how great the ACC is yet again. And I'll be saying just wait until March, just wait until March, exactly like I did this year. Ed will then mock me and say over and over that the ACC is the best like all the talking heads do just because they have "UNC" and "Duke" on their jerseys. Meanwhile, Dick Vitale will be wetting himself talking about how great whichever white guy the ACC refs are bailing out all season is. You could set your watch to this crap. Maybe the ACC is that good. Maybe they are as good as the Big East. I just think that perhaps they should actually have to prove it for once.

* I took my life into my own hands and bet head-to-head with The Great Chris Bennett on a couple conference wins props. I'm such a stubborn asshole that I somehow ended up with Big 10 Under 6 and Under 6.5 wins. That one has to favor TGCB at this point. However, I am looking very good on my SEC Under 1.5 wins bet with him. I mean unless LSU beats UNC today. It would be very out of character for an ACC team to choke in this thing.... Let's move on.

* What does it say about the strength of the Big East that they went 6-1 in the first round and people are acting like they disappointed because one of their teams actually lost a game? Villanova is already through to the next round making the Big East 7-1 and Connecticut is crushing Texas A&M as I type this.

* What does it say about this tournament that I would rather watch the Busch race than the Connecticut-Texas A&M game even though I don't have any action on the race?

* What does it say about me that I really hate the little kid who creates the slideshow in that Windows commercial? The kid's like 7 years old and he bothers me. Big deal - You made a slide show. Let's see you start a blog.... Adam.

I am a terrible person. That's what it says about me.

* Speaking of commercials, watch for the one where the Dad is a U of Washington fan and he hates his daughter's boyfriend who went to UConn because UConn beat them on a buzzer beater by Richard Hamilton. 11 years ago. Holding grudges over petty sports-related things sounds like my family. Very funny.

* I want to switch gears for a minute and talk about someone who has really impressed me lately. He's razor sharp. He's feared by every bookmaker in this town. And he's a member of "The Group." No, I'm not talking about Jeff Sherman. I'm talking of course about "The Big Guy" aka Matt Metcalf. To fully appreciate that kid, you really need to be familiar with the 2000 movie Bully which is based on the true story of the murder of Bobby Kent.

Bully is actually a really good movie featuring Nick Stahl, the late Brad Renfro, and the kid who played Bubbles' friend who overdoses during Season 3. (I'm not explaining that any further. If you don't get it, you don't get it.) Apparently, the murder of Bobby Kent took place in Matt's hometown. Based on that movie, I find the fact that Matt can even read and write to be shocking. To think that he was actually admitted to and graduated from a respected university is downright stunning. The kid is a real inspiration. From what I can tell, Matt is the only person from that town who has ever even worn a shirt, let alone a sweater. Nice job, bro. Like a flower that grew from a pot of dirt.

* Speaking of backwoods, redneck hometowns - I was in Virginia a couple weeks ago over my birthday. The old trailer home is holding up pretty well. Ed asked for a few stories about my Mom. Poor woman. She did have a few quirky moments I suppose I could share:

- This one isn't even funny - She turned my old bedroom into a guest room. It's not that big of a deal because it's not like I'm ever going to live full time in that house again but it still bothers me for some reason. My old TV was given to my sister. Reason being - She broke her own TV by dropping it while she was attempting to move it. Idiot. My old stereo was thrown away. Reason being - My mom said she didn't think it worked any more. Why I asked? Because she "Never heard anyone listening to it any more." Think about that one. Any old clothes I had left behind? Given to charity without asking me. Old pictures, trophies, etc....? All stored away.

The room is completely empty. I asked my brother why my Mom did this. Apparently she wanted to have a full time guest room. I'm going to ignore the fact that we already have a guest room in the basement of our house and focus more on the fact that we don't really any have GUESTS. My brother said the only times anyone has even slept in the "Guest room" is when my sister has gone out with a friend to a place near our house and the friend has passed out there instead of driving home. So basically instead of me having my old room to go home to every year or so, we have a vacant room for my sister's dumb friends to pass out in.

- My Mom has taken her spoiling of the dogs to new heights. She's on the verge of becoming one of those crazy cat ladies. Except with dogs. And children. And a husband. Anyways, she was slicing an apple and dropped a piece of it on the floor. So she reasoned that no person would want to eat a piece of apple that had been on the floor and therefore she should just give it to the dogs. She cuts it in half and gives half to the boy and half to the girl. Except the girl doesn't really have functional teeth and she was struggling to eat her half. So what does my Mom do? She picks it up off the floor, chews it herself and gives it back to the dog. I can't say I have never spoiled my dog. But I can say that I have never chewed his food for him.

- My family did take me out to dinner while I was home and for the most part it was an enjoyable night. For the most part. My Mom did manage to annoy me by calling a hostess over to inform her that they were celebrating my birthday that night despite me repeatedly asking her not to. What ensued was an awkward moment for everyone as a bunch of uncomfortable waiters sang "Happy Birthday," while an even more uncomfortable me sat there pretending to find it funny, while my father, brother, and sister really did find it funny and openly laughed at me and my Mom sat there grinning like a maniac. And then my brother ate the majority of the piece of cake. I hate that guy.

Before I go, I'll touch on a few other sporting-related events I am keeping my eyes on:

* While I've had enough college basketball for one year, I am keeping an eye on the NBA. Cleveland's win over Atlanta this morning has the Cavaliers 4.5 games ahead of the Boston Celtics in the race for home court in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They are also 1.5 games up on The Fightin' Shermans for home court throughout the NBA Playoffs.

Cleveland seems to play in and win a lot of close games. That's not a coincidence. Whenever the games are close and the Cavs need a late basket, they clear out for LeBron James aka "The L-Train" and he blows by his defender and scores. There is literally nothing the other team can do to stop him. Not since Michael Jordan have I seen a basketball player who can just say "Fuck it - I'm scoring right now" and make it happen. And even Michael had to work harder for his points than LeBron does. James is so big and strong that he makes it look easy.

Man.

Crush.

* Mens college basketball is boring. Personally, I prefer the womens game. Specifically, my beloved Lady Huskies who open up their quest for an NCAA Championship tomorrow morning at 9 AM PT against the Lady Catamounts of Vermont. That game will be coming to you live on ESPN2. Go Lady Huskies Go!

* If I was running the Detroit Lions, I'd offer the Broncos my 2nd round pick (Obviously the first pick of the 2nd round) and a pick next year for Jay Cutler and see what they do. There's no telling how desperate Josh McDaniels is to get rid of Cutler and the Lions would then have a starting caliber QB and two first round picks to fill the many other holes on their roster. It doesn't seem like Matthew Stafford is the answer and that NFC North is pretty wide open right now. Worst thing the Broncos could do is say no.

* If I was running the Washington Redskins, I'd sit tight at #13 and draft whichever offensive tackle I had graded highest that was left on the board. I wouldn't do anything fancy. I wouldn't try to make any headlines. I would just wait for my turn to pick and draft an offensive tackle. Please. For the love of God. Just do the smart thing for once.

* I'm not sure if Syracuse has what it takes to beat James Harden and the Sun Devils in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow but I am pretty sure that they will be dominating games in the prison yard for the next decade if they keep the nucleus of Eric Devendorf, Arinze Onuaku, Rick Jackson, and Mookie Harris together.

* Would it be racist of me if I wrote a letter to Devendorf informing him that he is, in fact, a white person? I just feel like someone needs to let him know. Chances are he'll be in prison a few years from now and he needs to know where he stands before he gets there.

* Would it be racist of me to say that I really don't give a shit who Barack Obama is picking to win the NCAA Championship?

Now Chris Bennett's bracket.... That's something I would've liked to have got my hands on before the tournament started.

That seems like plenty for one day. The ACC just sparkled again with Maryland staying within 20 points of Memphis. Connecticut is rolling into the Sweet 16 as we speak.

Oh, yeah - Georgetown beat them, too.



Enjoy the Dance.