Dream Team

There is much debate in the Tribune sports blog about, all conference selections, and All-Thumb Team, etc. The topic always becomes, who's the best Thumb Basketball player ever?

Let me start with the area, I can't speak of things prior to my being but I'll give it a shot.

1. BRAD REDFORD (Frankenmuth) Kid was lights out, pretty good stats for a freshman on a good Xavier team that made it to the sweet 16.

2. JORDAN BITZER (USA) Loved the killer attitude, Talent with the mental edge. I heard him say "Man's Game" many of times. (His brother doesnt have near the talent but was the best in the thumb that I seen this year by far.)

3. JOSH ASSLIN (Caro) I really didn't see him play all that much, He was big, Went to Michigan. A Big Ten school and played a desent amount.

4. MATT LEPAGE (Lakers) Loved to hate him. But when the quarter, half, or game was coming to an end, everyone in the building new he was going to take the shot and he nailed it more often than not.

5. CRAIG EMMERT (Cass City) Had a hard time with the 5 spot. Very difficult for me to pick Emmert over a Gainforth, Cramer, Brandon Bitzer, McPhail, Ignash, Ulfig, etc.) The difference for me was that he was a STARTER FOR 4 YEARS and was a major contributor all 4 years. Nice College career for a D3 or NAIA school.

Obviously. there are some good names in the past, but it was hard for me to rank just going off of a name. Schinner, Hartel, Haire, Commett, Ignash, Brain somebody from Bad Axe. Seth from lakers (Black Guy when Ulfig played)

Here is my Cass City top 5 in no particular order (to hard to do)
1. Emmert
2. Paul Ulfig
3. Hartel
4. Haire?
5. Commett?

I'm sure I am missing alot of good ones. Glaza comes to mind. Summersett maybe would crack the top 10 if you looked at the senior year only.

Be interested in your Top Basketball Players.

Here we go.

Broke

Ever wonder how so many athletes who make huge salaries end up with barely two nickels to rub together? Well, according to this SI story, basically, they're idiots. Those guys would be much better off if they had stayed awake through 100-level finance courses.

Disrespected?

After reading Ump's comment, I did some number crunching. From 1999-2009, the following teams have made it to the Final Four the amount of times listed:

Michigan State: 5
North Carolina: 4
Duke: 3
UConn: 3
Kansas: 3
UCLA: 3
Florida: 3
Maryland: 2
Ohio State: 2
Villanova: 1
Memphis: 1
Georgetown: 1
George Mason: 1
LSU: 1
Illinois: 1
Louisville: 1
Georgia Tech: 1
Oklahoma State: 1
Syracuse: 1
Marquette: 1
Texas: 1
Indiana: 1
Oklahoma: 1
Arizona: 1
Wisconsin: 1

Notice who's at the top of the list? Now, I listen to PTI today and the conversation is how completely unbelievable it is that MSU smashed Louisville and how they have no chance against UConn. People seem to be talking about MSU like they're Villanova, Marquette, GT, so some team like that, not one of the elite programs in the nation. UConn is a great team and the safe bet is that they'll win the game. But show a little respect.

BOOM!

I think I'll watch this episode of Mythbusters. (hat tip: Jonah Goldberg @ The Corner)

Final Four baby!

Bring on UConn!

Magic vs. Bird

On PTI yesterday they pointed out it was the 30th anniversary of the 1979 NCAA Championship game played between MSU and Indiana State, the highest-rated basketball game ever. One quarter of the televisions in the US were tuned to this game.

Restore the Roar

Looks like the Detroit Lions may have a new logo for the upcoming season.

?

Hall of Fame?

Curt Schilling called it quits today, announcing his retirement on his blog. The debate, judging from Sportscenter and PTI is whether or not he will make the Hall of Fame. Now I know the Hall is pretty difficult to get into given the voting rules, but it seems to me if Schilling isn't a Hall of Famer then Cooperstown just isn't worth paying attention to.

Seriously

Has Wilbon lost his mind on this whole mid-major thing? He's coming unhinged.

Orange?

When did Syracuse change their mascot to the "Orange"? That seems kind of lame. Not even something like the Fightin' Orange, the Mighty Orange, the Tangy Orange, or the Orange Terror. Just Orange. It also looks pretty silly written on the front of a white jersey.

Watch Live

I think the ability to watch all of the NCAA Tournament games live online is possibly the greatest sports innovation on the internet. Being able to watch MSU as they're pounding on Robert Morris (the team, not the one guy) without having to pay for DirecTV is awesome.

LED Art... with sheep.

These guys may have too much time on their hands:



Hat tip: Jonah Goldberg at The Corner

Presidential Bracket

Well, I have to admit, I dislike the president a little less since he picked MSU to make it to the Elite 8. I know some are going to give him grief about doing this, what with the financial crisis and socialist takeover of America, but I kind of like (the brackets, not the socialist stuff). Of course if Bush had published his brackets he would have been ripped apart in the media...

Mass Effect 2 Teaser

Going Down

The other day when I was talking to my dad we both wondered what happened to Alabama tackle Andre Smith. He had been projected as the potential first pick in the draft, but had since disappeared from draft boards. Well, I just found the answer. Smith left the combine and planned to make up for it at his Pro Day. There he only managed to do 19 reps of 225 lbs.

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..
...

Wow. That's amazing. In my prime as a below-average small-school varsity lineman I could have done 19 reps of 225. I believe that workout numbers are overrated, but this is ridiculous. You expect a #1 pick offensive lineman to be the Incredible Hulk, not Dazzler.

Just to be clear, for the less comically-inclined, this is Dazzler:

What Not To Do

On Saturday Broncos coach Josh McDaniels and and QB Jay Cutler were supposed to meet and sort out their differences. Apparently that didn't go so well, because Cutler is asking to be traded. This is amazing. I know there's a lot of people out there taking the coach's side on this one, but I think I'm with Cutler. One thing you absolutely don't do as a new NFL head coach is look to trade your Pro Bowl quarterback before you've even unpacked your bags. A solid starting QB is the most valuable commodity in the NFL. To put yourself in a position to have to trade one away is either incandescently stupid or insanely arrogant.

March Madness

I just sent out another round of email invites for the Tourney Pick 'Em. If you don't see one, you can just click here.

Cowboy Vs. Bull

No, I'm not writing about a rodeo, though a good bull riding video would be entertaining. Apparently the Utah State Aggies' Big Blue bull and New Mexico State's Pistol Pete got into a bit of a scuffle at the WAC semifinal on Friday night. It started when Big Blue ripped the mustache off Pistol Pete. Some photographers say a man in the crowd offered the bull $100 to do this. Now, I'm no expert, but that sounds like a major breach of the rules of mascot etiquette and protocol. You can start a fight for honor, but for $100? That's weak.

Jon Stewart - Know your Role!!!

I would say that approx. 1 year ago I began watching "Mad Money" with Jim Cramer. As a man who is not overly enthusiastic about watching financial shows, Mad Money was different. Yes to I invest in the market, of course. Do I watch Jim Cramer and do exactly as he says and invest in what he recommends - No. But the show brings Entertainment to financial stuff.

As a guy who is not a fan of the Daily Show - Also an Entertainment show, I basically watched some of the show once, and it happened to be during the presidential campaign. As he basically expressed his man love for the current president, I never watched again, and then I scene him on the Tonight show or the Late show and he again professed his love.

If you haven't caught the episode view it here. There are also plenty of other commentary videos on like this.

Here's my thought:

MEMO TO JON STEWART.

1. Last time I checked, your show was on Comedy Central, it's a comedy show - your not Chris Hanson from Dateline doing an investigation.

2. Blaming Cramer and CNBC (a Democrat and a Obama supported during the campaign) for our countries financial meltdown, is LIKE BLAMING THE WEATHER MAN FOR GLOBAL WARMING.

3. Cramer makes "MAD MONEY" an entertaining show, something nobody else has done. You of all people Jon should be able to see the comedy and entertainment in the show. People don't tune in to the daily show for daily news. They watch it for ENTERTAINMENT.

4. Maybe your bent because your punching bag "Bush" is no longer in office so that takes all your monologue away. Maybe Cramer picked on OBAMA for his Spending errr. I mean Stimulus Package and that offended your MAN LOVE.

5. Maybe you lost a bunch of money like everyone else has or Maybe you were dumb enough to watch someone on TV and say I'm going to do that. Lets change it from "In Cramer We Trust" to " In Billy May's We Trust"

6. Find something else to bring ratings to your miserable show.



Late.

Watchmen Babies

For Andy:

Tourney Pick 'Em

I just created the Cass City Monkie group for the '09 Yahoo! Tournament Pick 'Em. You can join by following this link. Feel free to invite new people.

Special Relationship

Obviously I'm not a fan of the current president, but even I am surprised at how he comes off as a punk after reading this story about the gifts he and British PM Gordon Brown exchanged when Brown visited this week. I've just gotta know, what were the DVDs? I'm hoping they didn't include something like, say, The Patriot.

UPDATE: Wow, this gets better (or worse): Brown is blind in one eye. So I think Obama is probably just a jerk.

One trillion dollars...

...looks like this. (Hat tip: Jonah Goldberg at The Corner)

Bigger Fish

After clinching the Big Ten title last night with little celebration, Spartan coach Tom Izzo had this to say:

"I'm in the mood for frying bigger fish than the one I just fried."

That's what I like to hear. Bring on the big fish.