Dom's Dish - NCAA Bracket nearly busted Edition

So, after a long few weeks of watching college basketball (Mens' tournament), I was right about 2 things: Villanova will make the Final Four; Two Big East schools will be in the Final Four.  It will be a tough road for both Villanova (playing a team on fire, North Carolina) and UConn (playing a hot Michigan State team 75 miles from East Lansing).  I was also right about a #2, a #3 and two #1 seeds there in Detroit, Memphis and Louisville blew it for me.  Ah well, there's always next year.  In the meantime, it's been a fun journey watching all the games, especially Nova's miracle finish the other night.  Let's hope the last 3 games stay interesting and Nova comes out on top - after all, Jay Wright deserves it.  How can you not love the guy?

Heeeeeeeeee's back!  Tiger did it.  I think that was the moment that my son actually crapped himself when I yelled "YES" and pumped my fist when Tiger hit the birdie putt on 18 this afternoon at about 7:50pm - I know because the sun set in Orlando at 7:43pm.  After staying close all day, the pressure of the Tiger on the prowl got to "the field" and Tiger pulled into the lead on the 72nd hole at Arnie's tournament.  This sets the stage quite nicely for 2 weeks from now in Augusta.  You know Tiger's taking a few days off to be home with the family, count some more money, then gonna go back out and work his butt off for about 8 days before the start of the Masters.  And on Easter weekend, of all times.  Amen corner indeed.

Dom's Dish - NCAA Tourney Watch Edition

So, yeah not too bad day 1 and 2 for all my picks, 22 of 32.  Unfortunately some of those losses I had going to the Sweet 16 or beyond.  Hope you gamblers aren't takin your advice from Dom's Dish.

After a scare, Villanova has played an awesome 3 halves now, dominating UCLA (pronounced "you-cla") and showed their Big East stamina and physicality.  Looking good for a team I have in the finals!

Everytime I watch Coach K and Duke, I think about what could be if he were to ever have a strong low post presence.  Let's face it, Zoubek from Haddonfield, is nothing more than a slow-mo stick figure.  Ever since Luol Deng, there's nothing in terms of talent above 6 foot 8.  And we see how that Small Forward has turned out with the Bulls.  I wonder what his teams could have done with someone like Hansbrough or Duncan (Tim) or even Shaq. Someone to take up some space on offense while swing men and guards work the perimeter and even grab a few rebounds!  Ah well, even if Coach K ever had the talent, would he have the coaching to deal with it?  I think yes.  Maybe then they could actually get back to the Final Four.

Dom's Dish - Dishin the Bracket Edition

Dom's Dish - Thursday, March 19, 2009 10am

Ok, here we go, 2 hours until the madness, mayhem, chaos and general disarray begins.  I've filled out 5 brackets on ESPN.com, 1 on Yahoo! and multitudes in my head, but I filled out the last one on paper that The Dish will be using to take it to the house!  Here we go, region by region...

First for the play-in game, I'm taking Morehead State.  I always take Morehead State, I love the name AND it's where my boyhood idol Phil Simms went to school.  Someone on ESPN called them "The Morehead State Phiting Phil Simms".  I mean, the notable alumni section from Wikipedia.com has listed Phil at the top among some bowlers, former D-level MLB players, some country music singers, Billy Ray Cyrus (Miley's dad), Baltimore Ravens coach Jim Harbaugh and Chuck Woolery.  I'll take Phil Simms for the love connection, Chuck.  Not bad for a school from Kentucky - speak of the devil, I wonder if Gillespie will get fired from the "main campus" after his first 2 seasons.  I hate when the analysts talk about Kentucky and Indiana (and now Arizona) like the basketball programs BELONG in the tournament year after year.  It's all about coaching and recruiting.  Once your star coach is gone, the program reverts - see Bruce Pearl leaving UW Milwaukee (who?).  

Anyway, on to the brackets:

Midwest:

Louisville will come out.  I have all the top seeds advancing throughout except for: Sienna over Ohio State (1st Rd 9 over 8), USC over BC (1st Rd 10/7).  Thus Louisville, Wake Forest, Kansas and Michigan State in the Sweet 16, and Louisville and Rick Pitino in his white suit beating Tom & Jerry Izzo in the Elite 8.  Kansas and Arizona could throw a wrinkle in the bracket, but I'm pretty confident in that they've lost too much.  Louisville Cardinals move on - from Kentucky.

West:

Memphis shows its worth to advance - 29 straight heading into the National Semifinal.  All top seeds advance except: Texas A&M over BYU (1st Rd 9/8), Mississippi State over Washington (1st Round 13/4), Maryland over California (1st Rd 10/7).  In the second round, UConn (1), Memphis (2), Missouri (3),  and my Cinderella to the Sweet 16 - Mississippi State (13 seed) move on.  UConn and Memphis in the final, Memphis flexes its muscles and John Calipari is in the National Semifinals again with a different Freshman point guard.

South:

UNC pulls through with an ailing Lawson.  I don't want it to happen, but this could be a story book year for Hansborogh in his last year.  All top seeds advance except: Temple over Arizona State (1st Rd 11/6), Clemson over Oklahoma and Blake Griffin (2nd Rd 7/2).  UNC (1), Gonzaga (4), Cuse (3) and Clemson (7) in the Sweet 16.  UNC and Syracuse advance to the Elite 8 on coaching and guard play, with UNC, Roy Williams and Crazy T going to the Final 4.

East:

This one is all messed up as Nova moves on to the Final 4 on team chemistry and the road through Philly.  Lots of crazy stuff here: Pitt advances against Tennessee (over Oklahoma State - 1st Rd 9/8).  Xavier holds seed as does Florida State, though Florida State over Xavier (5/4) in the 2nd Round.  Tennessee beats Pitt as foul trouble hinders their big man and Fields comes up short - 9 over 1 in 2nd Round up top.  Tennessee and Florida State in the Sweet 16 up top.  Down low, VCU pulls the upset over UCLA in the 1st Rd (11/6) and Nova (3), Texas (7) and Duke (2) hold on in the first round.  Nova (3) and Duke (2) pull to the Sweet 16 matchup.  Nova and Tennessee pull the upsets (3/2 and 9/5).  Villanova and the sharply dressed Jay Wright advance to the Final 4 - just so you know, Giorgio Armani wears Jay Wright suits.

Final 4:

Villanova (3), UNC (1), Memphis (2) and Louisville (1) make it to the big show.  Louisville pulls it out over Memphis ending their 29 game win streak - the bigger conference experience helps down the stretch.  Villanova pulls it out over UNC ending the reign of "the greatest men's hoops player of all time" - Tyler Hansbrough - however you spell it.  It's an all-Big-East finale - Louisville and Villanova, AGAIN, and unfortunately, again Louisville takes the Title - this one for all the enchiladas - 75 to 69.  Louisville Cardinals - the overall #1 seed from the best conference, wins.

Dom's Dish - Overtime's Overtime's Overtime Edition

So, as I'm about to shut down, I realize I missed the most amazing game ever.  I didn't see one second of it, but it's gone to 6 OVERTIMES SO FAR and it's still not over!  UConn and Syracuse playing in the Big East Quarterfinals on a day where Nova barely pulled it out, but pulled it out in classic March Madness fashion with a reverse lay-up at the buzzer to stun Marquette - who came back from 16 at the half!  Now, in the 6th overtime at 1:19am Syracuse seems to be pulling away from UConn pulling away by 10...wait, 11...wait 6.  OVER TO THE TV!  

Ok, I'm back, Cuse pulled it out.  In the 70 minutes of basketball (nearly 4 hours real time) 127-117.  Apparently only 3 other games have ever gone that long in college - 2 other went 6 OT, one went 7OT in 1983 I think.  Awesome game - biggest stat was Syracuse hit something like 23 of 28 free throws in the overtimes.  That's what every coach has you practice - free throws at the end of a long grinding practice, and it sure paid off for the Orange.  Awesome job, and kudos to one of their players after the game for giving props to their Strength and Conditioning coach!  Let's see how that fares in 19 hours when they take on West Virginia who upset #2 ranked Pitt by 14!  Should be an interesting game.  For those that didn't know, Big East Basketball in 2008-2009 is a lot of fun to watch.  March Madness is upon us indeed.

So, first and foremost, I hate Comcast.  I thought I would reiterate for anyone who didn't know, because I know there is no one out there that loves them, aside from maybe Mitch Williams, the Phillies "Wild Thing" who may actually be finding his way into Phillies fans' hearts after be the goat of all goats (Comcast pays him as an "analyst").  Anyway, I sucked it up last year and caved and paid $5.99/month so I could catch up on the NFL Network and prepare for the draft. I can't do it anymore, not in this economy and not with the DVR (one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century) being $15/month.  It's not the most thrilling TV, but it was awesome to watch for those few years and it brought all of you third-hand reports of the NFL Combine and free agency via me (Dom's Dish), the analysts there and my TV feed from Indianapolis.  Anyway, in a draft like this year's, with the team I follow most - the Eagles, having something like 11 or 13 draft picks, I'm a little upset.  I can't even watch the stuff on ESPN 360 if I could.  Not sure where I'm going with this other than Comcast sucks.  At least my service seems to have cleared up, but that'll only take a 90-degree day to fix that I'm sure.

Around the Balls:

Men's College Big Orange and Round - Oklahoma lost to OK State in the Big 12 championship.  Some say that might have blown their shot for a #1 seed.  You never know now with UConn and Pitt both losing their first games in the Big East tournament...

White stiched - Opening day is about 24 days away now.  The WBC is on, but with college hoops upon us, no one is watching really.  It's nice to see Chase Utley is getting ready to go in Clearwater and looks like he will be ready for opening day.  See A-Rod, you could have had the surgery in the offseason instead of now!

Tiny white - Tiger is back to "stroke play" - you'll hear that 45 more times this weekend "his first since that US Open win" - he didn't look too good today and he's 6 shots back after 1 round, though he was only missing his putts by inches - about 4 of them should have fallen.  Should be interesting this weekend, don't count him out yet!

Big Brown oblong - It's slow on the NFL Free Agency front.  How slow is it, you ask?  The ESPN Bottom line just flashed that the Arizona Cardinals signed an "LS" to a 3 year contract.  No, not a Lexus LS, a Long-Snapper!  A long snapper is the NFL news.   Wow. Seriously, I don't know how those guys take up a roster spot, but that's for another day.  Well, I guess no one wants to talk about how the $100 Million man in DC - Albert Haynesworth is being investigated in Tennessee for wreckless driving charges.  When are these guys going to get a driver?

Professional Big Orange and Round - I missed it live, but the best play of the night in the NBA was when Jason Richardson of the Suns went on a fast break down the floor and attempted a hot-dog 360 degree dunk and LeBron came out of no where and SWATTED the ball out of his hands!  Would have been a top play any other night.

Rubber Round non-balls - Martin Brodeur is back, an aside from the absolute debacle against the Islanders at Nassau Colesium over last weekend when he got pulled, he's won a bunch and is now 1 win away from tying Patrick Roy's record for all time wins!  He'll get a chance to do that on Sunday in his hometown of Montreal.  He's only a few (four I believe) shut-outs away from tying that record for a Goalie as well.

Rubber Round non-balls times four - So they suspended the NASCAR pit crew guy who ran after a tire at last weekend's race for 4 races!  A little harsh.  Yeah, he put his life in danger when he ran into the grass infield, but the tire was headed toward the track and for Pete's sake, he's on a pit crew!  Haven't you seen those guys get hit?  Didn't Danica hit one of her drivers a few years back?  Rubbin is racin fellas.  Rubbin is racin.

Dom's Dish - Target Parking Lot Edition

Dom's Dish - Thursday, March 4, 2009

Part of me wants to say "How convenient" and another "poor guy" but
news today that Alex Rodriguez will need hip surgery also brings to
mind a few other thought: "baseball related?", "why did you wait?" And
still again, "how convenient." According to A-Rod's brother via ESPN
Deportes, the worldwide leader in latin sports, number one three will
need hip surgery and is expected to miss up to 10 weeks! Think MLB
and the New York media will forget the whole steroid thing Alex?
Hardly. So my question, as the story says, if he had issues into last
season (would explain his performance down the stretch), why did he
wait? Was it even sports related or related to his rendezvous with
Madonna at Jerry Seinfeld's Long Island mansion last year? Ah well,
the Yanks still have another $200 million in players, someone will
step in.  Part of me thinks he just wants to be like Chase Utley though.

So, even all the bloggers on ESPN can't find T.O. a good home.
Baltimore maybe? KC? Someone will take a shot, I'm telling you, 1
year contract! Put a "no being a baby" clause in there. Ok, maybe
"baby" is too harsh. No being a toddler and fighting for the media and
your quarterback's attention clause. Oh Tony Romo, "that my
quarterback.". Who can forget the pill incident either. Someone like
that I worry about after football. What job is he prepared for? The
media, I think not. Hopefully he doesn't become a serial killer and
try hunting everyone who wronged him in a major way. Scumbags...

So, I admit, I'm guilty. In most states nowadays, it is illegal to
talk on your cell phone without a handsfree device while driving.
After getting the car washed on this lovely NJ day, I needed to take,
my favorite (honestly), a NJ jughandle u-turn. Beside me at the light
was a local police officer in a marked, yes marked, police car. At
the next light we came to, he was beside me at my 11 o'clock. Behind
pulled a tan Prius, the smug lady inside had a small child in the rear
carseat. No kidding, for the entire 60 seconds at the stop light he
talked to her phone, on speaker phone, but still holding it with one
hand. Presumably, she was speaking to her husband about what to make
for dinner and not doing the laundry, because it looked heated. Light
turns green, cop accelerates and cuts in front of the car in my lane
and slowed down. The woman stupidly accelerated past the officer,
STILL ON THE PHONE and within seconds, got lit up. I was shocked.
Usually I'll just honk at someone that oblivious to the world as I
drive by with no cops around. This time I honked as I drove past her
AND the cop behind her! I'll have to ask my brother the cop how much
that ticket is worth. Nice laugh on a busy day.

From rock star parking at Target...

Dom's Dish - No Mo T O Edition

Dom's Dish - No mo T O Edition

On a day of "keeping the love" and three key free agents re-signing with their 2008 teams (Manny, Kurt Warner and Ray Lewis), just past midnight the news breaks that the Cowboys have released Terrell Owens.  Yes.  Wow.  Speechless to some extent.  Who knew with all of Jerry Jones' cryptic speak about the matter the last few weeks, and with Jerry's new stadium outside Dallas, the pressure's on Romo to keep the seats full the next few seasons to pay for debt.  Aside from the person, he's been one of the greatest of all time, totally dominating for about 5 years there, but obviously the head games and injuries have begun to get to him as his production has diminished.  Never having been a disciplinary issue outside of the team, he has that going for him, and his work ethic...when he gets paid.  He should wind up somewhere for 2009, but the question is, WHERE? Sure, plenty of teams have the salary cap space, but the draft isn't here yet - who is going to want a mid-30 year old receiver who has been in a problem in now at least 3 locker rooms?  I'm sure there's some borderline contender out there willing to take a chance on him with an exorbitant 1-year contract.  Denver to continue their spending spree? New England to play alongside Randy Moss and under Belichick? Kansas City to fill the seats? Oakland - will Al Davis shoot the lock off and cream his white suit?  Giants - to fill the large void left by the soon to be striped Plaxico? One thing I'm almost certain of, TO will not be back in an Eagles uniform - we all know how that story ends up - pushups in a driveway in Moorestown with helicopters overhead.  So the last question is, where do the Cowboys go from here?  Will Roy Williams live up to the hype and draft picks?  I don't care, go Eagles.

Dom's Dish - Mobile Edition

Dom's Dish - Mobile Edition

So here I sit, broken hearted, tried to but only farted...but I digress.

I can't help the giddiness (and dizziness) that Tiger is back. I
didn't get to watch the full round yesterday but I saw bits and pieces
on the Golf Channel and ESPN. 33 he is? Maybe less, but he looks mid
20's on the course (only the close-up during interviews make him look
mid to late 30's). Who knows what the weekend will bring, but Tiger
in the finals of this match play would make the PGA's dream! It makes
me jealous though seeing him and others in t-shirts playing golf in
the sun! Then today at 5:11pm EST Tiger shot an amazing sand wedge on
the 14th to win the hole and move to only 2 down.

So on the topic of greats in their profession, Martin Brodeur was
activated on Wednesday and will return today back in goal for the NJ
Devils. Woo Hoo! I sure hope the investment in the rookie card (via
brother Nic) pays off! On the verge of breaking so many records, he,
like Tiger, will again bring people back to their sports: obviously
Brodeur on a much smaller scale.

Last but not least, 12:01am and the NFL Free Agency period begins!
Where will TJ Houshamazilly wind up? Ocho Cinco? Albert Haynesworth?
So much will likely be done in the first 7-8 days so stay tuned.