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| Doesn't get any better than this |
Ed. Note: This post was written by Brady.
Personally, football is my first love and baseball comes in
a close second. However, when the
calendar hits March I am ready for some madness like any other basketball lover
out there. I devoted my entire Sunday to
the Buckeye hoops team along with the selection show that followed the game (I
did sneak in a couple innings of the new baseball game for PS3… it’s the only
way I have to get the Cleveland Indians some victories). The Big Ten tourney championship game was a
good chance to get away from the cluster$#@! that the Buckeye football program
has become over the last week and I couldn't wait to focus all of my attention
on the #1 team in the nation. In no
particular order, here are some random thoughts and reactions that I have been
mulling since the brackets were revealed.
• Championship Game-
I think Sunday’s Big Ten championship turned out like many of us thought it
would in the end. Penn St. hung around
for awhile in the first half behind some solid 3 point shooting from Battle. The Nittany Lions looked pretty pumped in the
early going as they were playing for their collective NCAA tourney lives at the
time (they ended up getting in anyway).
Ohio St. looked a little sluggish and uninspired in the opening minutes. Some bad turnovers and early fouls had the
Buckeyes out of their game. Can you
blame them? OSU all but had the #1 seed
wrapped up before tipoff and many pundits had them penciled in for the #1
OVERALL seed no matter the outcome of Sunday’s contest.
Right before the half expired, Diebler hit a huge three to
give the Buckeye’s a 6 point advantage going into the locker room. They would never look back after that. Penn St. would make a few runs at the
Buckeyes and get as close as 10 points but OSU always seemed to have that big
bucket answer the rest of the afternoon.
Buford led the team with 18 points while Sully and Diebler added 15
apiece. It was nice to see our boys take
pride in this game (even though it was basically meaningless) and come away
with both Big Ten crowns.
• Thoughts on the
season- I can’t begin to tell you how special this basketball season has
been for Ohio. After LeBum skipped town
in the most disgusting way possible last summer, the state became a bumbling
psychotic mess in need of something good to happen on the hard wood. From the beginning we knew this team had the
potential to have a special year. Jared
Sullinger exploded on the scene playing at a level well beyond his years. Craft and Thomas infused even more young
talent onto a team that was brimming with experienced players such as Diebler,
Buford, Lauderdale and Lighty.
OSU had
just the right combination of youth and seasoned vets to make a serious run at
some hardware this year. They did not
disappoint. Only 2 losses blemished
their record and those came on the road against two top 20 teams that did not
lose on their home court all season.
This team fought hard to get into a position to make a run at this
thing. All they need now is the
confidence and the occasional lucky roll for that to come to fruition. I can’t wait!
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| It's turrrrrible |
•
Selection Show- Raise your hand if you think Charles Barkley should cut his
losses now and return to an NBA gig?
Since this is a column, I can’t see how many of you do but since we are
talking about Barkley, I’m going to assume all 8 of you reading this have your
arm raised. What a media whore this guy
is! If I remember correctly, Sir Charles
predicted that the Buckeyes would have a hard time getting past their second
round game in the East and then pretty much guaranteed in one of the two games
to follow in Newark. Everybody is
entitled to their opinion.
If he would
have given some decent arguments or credible stats as to why he thought this I
wouldn’t be seething with anger right now.
But no. Barkley’s comments went
something like “inaudible… inaudible… I’m pretty fat… inaudible… have you seen
me swing a golf club… inaudible… where is the CBS snack table”. I watched the whole show and he said nothing
that suggested he had any knowledge of college basketball. I swear he was just reading the blurbs on
each team right of the ESPN website.
Whatever. Just another hater to
add to Ohio State’s list. I hope Matta
and Co. were listening.
• Bracketology- Probably
the most popular aspect of the NCAA tournament is filling out your bracket. It is the single greatest gambling entity
that this country has ever known. Every
year, some tool with a calculator comes out with a story on how much time theft
from the workplace occurs because of the phenomena. I usually am game for 1 or 2 brackets with
my friends but this year I am going all out!
I will fill out as many brackets , online or otherwise, in an attempt to
win some fabulous prizes. I encourage
you to follow suit. What other time of
year can you peruse the Internet and fill out free gambling sheets in hopes of
winning a new car or becoming an instant millionaire? To hell with your boss this year! Take advantage of the greatest sports
tournament on the planet (are you taking notes football?) and have some fun
over the next few weeks. You never know
if you will be that lucky bastard in the top percentile on ESPN or
CBSSportsline. Good Luck!
