No Boozer, no Noah, no problem

 

Boozer is still out with his injured ankle and Noah was sent home before the game because of illness.  It didn't seem to matter though as the Bulls beat the Wizards easily, 98-79.  That is what happens when a team is legitimately good and plays amazing defense (actually they are better at defense without Boozer), and that is why the Bulls are now in first place in the East, by themselves.

How about Bogans playing his best game yet for the Bulls?  17 points, 5 rebounds while going 5 for 10 from three point range.  I love to rip Bogans, but he plays tough defense and stepped up last night when the roster was thin.  So props to Bogans, I'll give you the banner picture on the blog.

PS - I can't believe that the White Mamba got into the game in the 1st quarter.  I guess he just has the Wizards' number.

Good god, that's Snooki's music!!!

Guysim - WWE continues its march to April 3rd’s WrestleMania XXVII. And they’re not messing around in terms of booking the big names…first The Rock returns, then “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and, now, “Jersey Shore” guidette Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi will bring her immense athletic talents and propensity to get punched in the face into a WrestleMania XXVII match in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hold the phone.  Snooki, the Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin are going to be at Wrestlemania!?  Get the fuck out of here.  This sounds like pretty much the best fake sporting event ever and if I was 10 years old I would be begging my parents to order this on pay-per-view.

Seriously though, what is Snooki going to do in the ring besides pulling hair and throwing pickles at people?  I really hope that Snooki gets her ass kicked and then JWoww just comes out of nowhere and starts beating bitches up.  It's the only way this match can be somewhat believable.

Thank you New Jersey...Bulls tied for first

Blogabull

The Nets beat the Celtics last night 88-79 and I am almost as Goldberg from the Mighty Ducks is in that video.  Why?  Because the Bulls are now tied with the Celtics for first place in the East with 17 games left in the season and that #1 seed in the East is a big deal this year.  I mean which path would you rather have in the playoffs?  Indiana, Orlando and homecourt vs Miami/Boston or Philly/New York, Miami and on the road in game 7 against Boston.  The first option is clearly better, especially for a young team like the Bulls that plays much better at home.

And how about Kris Humphries just destroying that little bitch, Rondo, on the backcourt screen. Rondo, you gotta keep your head on a swivel bro.




PS - There has to be something magic (besides the obvious) about Kim Kardashian's ass.  I mean Reggie Bush wins the Super Bowl, the Cowboys season falls apart after Miles Austin breaks up with her, and now Kris Humphries.  Dude was a journeyman NBA player for 7 years, starts dating Kim Kardashian and is all of a sudden putting up 18 point 15 rebound games on the reg.  I'm telling you, there is something magic about it.

The best bracket picking tips you are gonna find

So everybody has their brackets out and is trying to figure out who is going to make the Final Four and where the early upsets are going to be.  Also every website is giving out tips and strategies on how to fill out your bracket.  The problem is, they all suck, and say a bunch of stuff that doesn't make any sense.  They give you advice based on historical trends, in a sport that turns over so fast that anything that happened three years ago doesn't matter anymore.

I'm going to give you real advice.  Why should you take it?  Well because I have won more of these pools than anybody I know.  I have won 3 and cashed out numerous other times, while filling out only one bracket a year.  None of that submitting seven brackets and then claiming to be a genius when one does well.  So here goes...

Fill out the bracket backwards - What I mean here is, figure out who your Final Four are first.  That is where all the points are in your pool, so spend the most time trying to figure this out.  Which leads me to...

Don't pick too many early upsets - Sure it's fun to say that you picked an early upset right.  But if you pick 8 early upsets, your probably going to get half wrong, and that hurts you more than it helps you.  Sure you get some points for the ones you got right, but you are losing way more potential points by missing on those high seeds advancing.

Don't worry about past trends - This means don't just pick a 12 seed because a 12 seed always wins.  Pick the team you think will win.  Five years ago every player on every team was different, so what happened then has absolutely no bearing on what will happen this year.  I remember when Florida repeated, people said not to pick them because it was too hard to repeat and nobody had done it in 15 years.  Well they were the best team, so they won, and won me my pool.

Don't get too fancy - When you are done filling out your bracket if you look down and see a 3,5,7, and 2 as your Final Four, you fucked up.  It's not gonna happen.  Start over and remember those teams got seeded well because they are good.


Don't worry about what the experts say - I'm pretty sure you can find an "expert" that has picked every different team.  You are only going to confuse yourself if you read all of their picks.  Plus, they basically get paid to entertain you, meaning they are going to get a lot more viewers or hits if they are picking upsets instead of picking the 1 seed to advance.

Basically what I'm saying here is, play it safe.  You can't win your pool on the first weekend, but you can definitely lose it.  Nobody remembers who picked the first round upset last year, but the winner's name gets sent out in the bracket email next year.

The Illini are going to the dance with an ex (or two)

Let me get this straight.  The Illini backed into the tournament and yet still somehow got a 9 seed.  Apparently the selection committee did not watch them play much late in the year.  No team in the country has proven they can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the Illini.  Sure, if you just watched them play for five minutes here or there, they look like a legit team, but then you would be missing the part where they fall apart at the end of every game.  I guess I will just be happy that the computers love them for some reason, and the made the tournament.

And talk about awkward for Bruce Weber.  Bruce is on the hot seat and may have to make a run in the tournament to save his job.  No big deal, he would just have to beat the last two Illinois coaches to make that run.  In the first round the Illini will face Lon Kruger, who left Illinois for the NBA in 2000, and is currently the coach of UNLV.  If they beat UNLV, they will get rewarded with the #2 team in the country, Kansas, led by their last coach Bill Self.

I don't think Illinois fans hold any ill will against Lon Kruger, but the same cannot be said for Bill Self.  Illini fans will probably never forgive Bill Self for Illinois when the program was at its best and ready to take off.  So, if Bruce wants to win over the doubting Illini fans, beating Self and Kansas would definitely do the trick.  It is just too bad for him, that there is about 1% chance of that happening.  Kansas is just too good, and the Illini would somehow have to win a game just to get to play them.

PS - Those guys are trying so hard to look cool in that picture.

Gus Johnson is peaking at the right time

Gus Johnson could not be more ready for the tournament to start.  It is like when the Packers just flipped the switch in week 16 and started steamrolling everyone.  Gus is just gonna be dominating the tourney for the next month.

Also, when did conference championship week get so awesome?  It's like the first round of the NCAA Tournament, just loaded with upsets and buzzer beaters, except all the teams are rivals.  Hell, even Harvard and Princeton put on a show.

It's St. Patrick's Weekend, go get drunk and find the gold

I will watch this video every St. Patrick's day for the rest of my life.