The Greatest Weekend in Sports

The NCAA men's basketball tournament is undoubtedly the best sporting event of the year. Specifically, the first four days of the round of 64 (now it's 65 but who really counts the play in game) are so exciting that any fan of sports or athletic competition as a whole is almost obligated to play hooky from work, school, or all other things not basketball.

The tournament is ubiquitous for the entire month of March. Only Christmas has a bigger impact on one single month of the year. Think about it, the tournament is unavoidable right now. Every commercial that doesn't include an awkward man hug pushing the awful 69-cent coffee from McDonald's has some reference to college basketball. Automobile makers, financial firms, credit cards and even David Letterman use basketball as the backdrop of their ad campaign. In the workplace, this event single handedly causes such a lack of productivity for those that work on a computer because they are constantly checking ESPN.com and CBSsportsline.com for all the latest updates instead of actually working. Any poor schlub that is unfortunate enough to actually have to work these next two days won't get to capture the true essence of these games by just looking at the gamecast or clicking to find the latest scores.

This weekend has to be savored. That's why I already scheduled Thursday and Friday off and made no plans to do yard work on Saturday and Sunday. I intend to post up on the couch with bountiful libations, cheesesteaks, and the new Wendy's four-alarm chicken sandwich (my own personal sponsor for the tournament). That's because these next four days are guaranteed to deliver fantastic basketball viewing pleasure. The only thing certain is uncertainty. Upsets will occur, buzzer beaters will drop, and beer will get spilled. You just don't know when these occurrences will happen.

So many memorable moments immediately come to mind past opening weekends. Bryce Drew, the coach's son from Valpo, hitting a running three with no time left. I never heard of Valpo and didn't have a clue where it was, but right after that game I was immediately scouring the Internet trying to find a Valpo t-shirt. Tiny Tyus Edney from UCLA streaking down the length of the court in less than four seconds for the game winning layup. This gave hope to all the short point guards in the world that speed kills. The heartwarming story of Bo Kimble shooting his free throws left handed in memory of his fallen teammate and best friend, Hank Gathers. I can't read or watch, "For You, Hank" without shedding tears. Such emotional events like these cannot be captured in numbers alone. They have to be witnessed.

Nowadays, everyone is filling out his or her brackets. ESPN advertises that their experts like Jay Bilas and the blowhard Dickie V are certified professors of Bracketology. For those people that actually like the ever annoying and Duke loving Vitale, grow up. As for me, I'm not here to make any grandiose predictions about what team will persevere through what could be considered the most grueling and difficult playoff system of all amateur and professional sports. I also am not interested in the spreads, over-unders, or any other gambling method that the Vegas handicappers claim to have the inside track on. I don't contend to be Brandon Lang, although I did memorize his commercial that aired every Thursday on Daily News Live during the NFL season. Not even Al Pacino and Matthew MacConaghy could get me to buy into the complexities and inner torment that these guys endure in the box office bust "Two for the Money." You can't tell me that these so-called experts truly can predict these games. In almost every NCAA pool that I've ever been involved in, the winner was always someone that didn't know a basketball from a beach ball. They make their selections based on team colors and who has the cute Wally Sczerbiak looking guy.

Don't ask me who I have in my Final Four or who do I think could be a sleeper. I won't make any predictions, but will offer my insight on the chances of the two local schools that are included in this year's tournament. I never had just one college basketball team that I religiously followed. I've always been a fan of the Big Five (6 if you include Drexel) teams collectively. Maybe because I never went to one of the Big Five schools, I don't subscribe to the theory that they all hate one another and that you can't support archrivals at the same time. St. Joseph's hates Villanova. Temple hates Villanova. I guess it's safe to say that they all despise the preppy school down the Main Line. Personally, I'll pull for any of the local teams with a fighting chance.

This year, however, I think the omnipotent selection committee had some type of vendetta against the Big 6. Drexel, of course, was left out and proceeded to lose on their home court in the first round of the NIT (the Not Invited Tournament). As for Nova and Penn, they drew really tough match ups in the first round.

Villanova drew Kentucky, Wildcats versus Wildcats. Big surprise, I like the Wildcats. I think Nova can win this game behind Sumpter's leadership and Reynolds' scoring ability. There's just no way Sumpter lets his team lose this game after all the knee surgeries he's had to endure only to come back and average 17 pts and 5 rbs per game. Scottie can be out of control at times because he's young and they have no one else who can create like he can so he tends to force the issue. But anytime you drop 40 against UCONN in Storrs, you can ball. This game will come down to well Nova defends Kentucky's Ramel Bradley on the outside and their big man, Randolph Morris. My favorite part of this game, besides getting a shot of Ashley Judd in the stands, is that if Kentucky loses, Tubby Smith may get canned. My disdain for Tubby goes back to when his son was the starting point guard for Kentucky in the late 90's. Not only was this blatant nepotism, but also Saul Smith had an awful perm haircut that made his lack of talent much more evident. That's reason enough for more to hope Nova destroys Kentucky. There is no way, however, that they can advance past this game, not with powerhouse Kansas waiting in round 2. The Jayhawks are too deep and talented and have a legitimate chance at winning the whole thing.

The Quakers of Penn probably got the worst draw possible as they will face the strongest 3 seed in the tournament in Texas A & M that features one of the marquee players in all of college basketball in Acie Law IV. This guy has the potential to be this year's Dwayne Wade and singlehandedly carry the Aggies team to the Final Four. If you don't believe me, you have to check out YouTube to see Law hit a fade away three over the outstretched arms of Kevin Durant to send the game to overtime. My favorite part about that shot was right after he hits it and his teammates surround him, Law IV starts screaming, "that's what I do, that's what I do." I love his talent and his confidence is so high right now that there is almost no shot that he can't hit. Don't get me wrong, I like Ibby Jabber and Mark Zoller, the senior leaders of Penn, they're just not playing on the same level as Law IV. I think that had Penn been put against Washington State, they might be able to advance out of the first round, something the king's of the Ivy League have failed to accomplish in over a decade. As it stands, they'll be lucky if Law IV doesn't drop 50 on them.

I've accepted the fact that a local school will probably not win the NCAA men's tournament this year. It's not the end of the world and it definitely will not ruin my enjoyment of this weekend's activities. The great thing about this tournament is that truly anything can happen. After all, the 1985 Villanova team was an 8 seed and made an improbable run to the Championship in which they shot over 60% from the floor to defeat Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas. If the Big 5 men's teams should fall, maybe I'll turn my attention to watching the Delaware State Hornets and the University of Delaware Blue Hens women's teams compete in their tournament. (Pause) Not!

Fantasy Leagues

With the baseball season ever closer, it's time to address a ritual that hordes of wanna be general managers partake in every year. They call them their Fantasy Leagues, Rotisseries, or simply, their Leagues. They flock to buy the most complete and updated specialty guidebooks to help them with their mock drafts. Discussions over how the point system is structured are sure to lead to bloody noses. Do you award a pitcher 1 point for a strike out or 2? Do you subtract points for a walk or a wild pitch? What about a bean ball right to the dome? Seriously, wars have started over less. Don't even get them started about who gets to preside as league manager to approve lopsided trades. These deals are dirtier than back dated stock options for executives, insider trading over lavish golf outings replete with lap dances at Spearmint Rhino in Vegas, and free trips to Europe from Washington lobbyists.

Even though these exercises in stupidity continue to gain in popularity, I have yet to comprehend their appeal. Perhaps I'm too much of a hometown fan. Picture this scenario, it's late September at Shea Stadium and the Phils are neck and neck with the Mets for NL East supremacy. In the bottom of the 9th, with the Phils up by one, David Wright laces a game winning two-run double right past the painfully slow one-footed defensive liability Pat Burrell. That is certainly a crushing blow for any die-hard Phillies fan. But there is no way that I could live with myself if after the game I thought, "We sure gave that one away. Burrell is absolutely horrible. Why didn’t Manuel sub in Roberson for defense? Well, at least Wright is on my fantasy team and he just added to my daily point total."

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the talents of today's superstars. But there is no way that I can cheer for an archrival's achievements, especially against the Phils. That's why I have always said that if I can't have all of the players on my favorite team, I don't want to play. If somehow Pat Gillick can pull off a trade using all those sleazy tricks of the trade listed above consisting of Abraham Nunez and a no name player to be named later for David Wright and a first round draft pick, then I'll root for him. Until then, grow up.

The bottom line is that these leagues take way too much time. So much so that the people actually spend hours racking their brains trying to come up with a catchy team name, like Morgan's Mullets. Then they have to monitor their team every day to make sure they don't have Kerry Wood as their starting pitcher the day that he falls out of the tub and dislocates his index finger. I devote enough time and energy on thinking about the merits of Rod Barrajas versus Chris Coste as the Phillies starting catcher. There's no way that I can be expected to keep track of how Coco Crisp is doing against left handed pitchers in day games and stay on top of the daily activities of my home team. How do you expect me to play video games too? After all, they are my own personal fantasy leagues, and that’s just fine with me.