De-Shaqtivated!

And so it's official.

After 19 years, 15 All-Star appearances, four NBA titles, 28,596 points - 2 of which came off of free throws, to go along with 13,099 rebounds and a .582 field goal percentage, which is good enough for number two on the all-time list (ya, read that again with your surprised face on), Shaquille "Shaq Diesel" O'Neal finally calls quits on his NBA career.

He'll be missed, but let's face it, Shaq was everywhere the past few years, except for the basketball court.

Who can forget ABC's hit reality show "Shaq Vs", where Shaq would take on any other celebrity at their activity, from the sporting world (car racing, volleyball, swimming, and boxing), to face-offs with magicians Penn and Teller, Justin Bieber, and Rachael Ray. Losing every competition of course, but his charisma was perfect for the show. Sure, he stole the idea from Steve Nash, but who cares? Really, who would have actually watched Nash Vs? Not me. And Shaq's presser's before each contest began was nothing short of comedy genius, to say the least.

Shaq is easily one of my favorite athlete/entertainer's of all time. But retiring from basketball, as truly great as he was, will only put him in the spotlight even more. A bigger, brighter spotlight that I will gladly hold.

I, for one, cannot wait until he hits the road with his comedy tour, rock band, or (please God please), "Crossing Over with Shaquille O'Neal, psychic Medium traveling show".

This retirement is going to be Epic.

Mark Herzlich - Mr. Irrelevent's Hair Apperent

Sorry folks, it's been a while since I had time to post. But I'm back. Like an overbearing Mother in-law with a calling for child spoiling, I'm back to commentate on shit that I probably have no business commentating on.

Except for this.

Mark Herzlich.

Mark Herzlich is the inspirational young man that I really hope you've all already heard about. I hope so, even though apparently no GM, coach, or any other NFL personnel with drafting credentials have.

Here's the cliff notes, in case you haven't heard. And if you haven't, I highly recommend you google him and read his story. In fact, to make it easier, I've just done it for you. Here you go:

The Mark Herzlich Story

After  a spectacular Junior season as Boston College's top Line Backer, a position coveted in the NFL, Mark briefly considered testing the professional waters. The numbers had him being drafted between the back end of the first round, to the top of the second. Not too shabby, eh? In fact, 99% of all NCAA prospects would jump at the opportunity to be in Mark's shoes, just to be able to launch their NFL careers anywhere in those potential draft positions, and to be able to hear his name called at Radio City Music Hall.

But Mark isn't in that 99%.

Mark was one of those rear 1% of all NCAA players who truly didn't believe he should be drafted that late, and had the stats, plus-1, to back it up. He was the captain of the defense, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and arguably the best Linebacker in all of college football, and he had the chance to be something special. So he decided to stay in school for his senior year, and enter the 2009 draft as a top ten pick.

But shortly after that stellar 2008 season, Mark was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rear, one in a million, form of  bone cancer. He developed a tumor in his leg, from bone to skin. His doctor told him he would never play football again. But Mark, with his father's endorsement, informed his doctor that he only understood medicine, and not desire, and vowed to play football again

Mark fought cancer, endured six months of chemo and radiation, hit the weight room every day in between treatments, and trained with every ounce of energy he had to spare.

And he won.

Mark beat the cancer, and  the following year,  led his team out onto the field for their first game...as well as the next twelve games. In fact, Mark played in all thirteen games, finishing third on the team with 65 tackles; 50 solo, tied for first on the team with two forced fumbles, second with four interceptions to go along with four pass break ups. Oh, and he also had 3.5 tackles for a loss.

Mark was back. A temporary step slower, as expected, but back nonetheless. And for what he accomplished on the field and off to do so, is nothing less than amazing. awesome, fantastic, ... you pick the adjective, but you better make it a good one. Mark magnificently blew the world away with his comeback.

Unfortunately, unlike most feel-good stories, this one doesn't end with a happy ending. Sure, Mark is healthy now (knock on wood), and that's great. But all of his hard work, all his effort, his die hard attitude that  always backed him up, and his pure desire to succeed was no match for draft night. Once a first round draft pick, Mark watched the entire seven rounds of the NFL draft go by without hearing his name called.

... and then he waited some more.

Mark was finally drafted as the 51st pick of the 10th round, in the UFL draft. That's right. Not only did this potential first round NFL draft pick with tons of talent, heart, and desire not get picked in the NFL draft, but he also had to suffer through ten rounds of a second rate league.

Are you kidding me?

First of all, most NFL late round picks get cut anyway. So why doesn't any of the 32 NFL teams draft a potential superstar with any of their last three picks?  Why doesn't any of the 32 clubs draft a player like Mark, knowing his situation, and seeing how he came back, not take him with their last pick just to give him a chance? More so, why didn't ay of the 32 NFL teams draft a guy like Mark Herzlich, just because of his story, and who he proved to be?


Yes, Mark had the chance to be something special, but even if the NFL doesn't give him his due, he most absolutely certainly is something special.

I will leave you with the following quote from Mark...

"I have been told that I can't play football before. We all know what happened with that."

Dino Costa has jumped the shark... And that's too bad.

Any sports fan subscribed to Sirius/XM radio has likely heard of Dino Costa, who came to Mad Dog radio from Denver back in October of 2009.

I sure did.

For the past five years, on my 40 plus mile drive from office to home in the evening, I switch my Sirius stations between only four channel's. Channel 120(ESPN Radio), 122(Rivals Radio - F'baum!), 123(Mad Dog Radio - circa 2008, after SNR) and 124(NFL Network).

Let's face it, ESPN evening Radio is only good when there's an actual game on. Otherwise, you're just listening to Brian Kenny, regularly preempted by their regular SportsCenter television program, empathizing how a blind person must feel sitting on the couch.

Paul Finebaum on Rivals Radio 122 is fantastic, but it's a college sports network... or should I say an SEC Conference station. But he still cracks me up and can argue better than anyone on the radio.

The NFL Network is packed with great content and hosts, but it's basically just seasonal.

Then you have Chanel 123; Mad Dog radio. Perfectly, and commercially situated for diversity. Mad Dog has always been a great and knowledgeable radio personality. But the problem was, and remains, that his real love is Baseball and Tennis. The channel had room to dominate the Sirius/XM sports airwaves year round, and they helped propel that potential when they brought in Dino Costa.

Dino was a great change of pace for sports talk radio. His opinionated arrogance was adored by everyone who listened. Leaving political correctness at the 7-PM door probably netted a few more dolphins in that guilty pleasured fishnet he dragged than he wanted to, but it worked... well, for the first few months anyway.

A strange thing happened after Dino experienced a little nationally broadcast success. Mere months after getting his cake and eating it, his ego exploded to unhealthy proportions. All of a sudden Dino wasn't just Dino Costa, the great sports talk radio host with enormous potential; he was Dino Costa the great self-aggrandizing, "who's better than me" jackass who thought he could run against God in the next Supreme Being elections, and actually win.

If you listen to Dino, and chances are you don't much anymore, he'll tell you how great he is. Hour after hour, save maybe twenty minutes of his show, he'll tell you what a Schmuck Chris Russo is and how he, and only he knows what's what in the world. How he shouldn't have to work the days and times he signed his contract for, because he's better than that. Because he's better than the '95-'96 Bulls, the '85 Bears, and Rocky Balboa combined. This is endless redundant banter, run in circles so many times is dizzying.

He seriously thinks he deserves the drive time spot on Sirius/XM Mad Dog, and has nothing but vitriol to spew for any member of Mad Dog radio outside of himself, as well as ownership and management. Does anybody really want to listen to Dino talk about Dino for four hours in the morning?

He's not even a sports talk radio personality at this point. Other than giving scores once an hour like a lazy, pouting sportscaster, He's just a Dino Costa talk radio personality that bitches and moans about how shitty his life is for having a job he could only have dreamt of, and then having to deal with the people who gave him the best opportunity of his life.

Dino even has the balls to say that people actually subscribe to Sirius/XM radio for him. For him of all people. Howard Stern was and is the biggest reason people subscribe, and that isn't even arguable.

Dino could have been great. He wont be though, because he'll never be able to get over himself. And because of that, he's limited himself. He will never be able to express his radically different view on sports like the greatness that is Colin Cowherd. He'll never be as quick-witted and intelligent an arguer as Paul Finebaum, as knowledgeable as most of the NFL Network guys, as listenable as Scott Van Pelt or Doug Gottlieb, or, and this will kill him the most, as popular as Chris "Mad Dog" Russo.

Dino has transformed himself from a rear breath of insane but intelligent fresh air, to a mere cog in the Sirius/XM's machine, and to likely finding himself back on some irrelevant AM terrestrial radio station.

And that's too bad.

A Quick Baseball Rant

Do you know how you can tell Baseball is game and not a sport? And an irrelevant game at that? When it's played during the afternoon of a week day.

Every day there are up to half a dozen "games" being played throughout the day when anyone not retired or a housewife are either at work or in school. What other sport can get away with that shit? When was the last time Monday night Football was played on a Wednesday afternoon?

Baseball is slow, methodical and lame, and I don't understand the appeal of it at all. I don't know why people living at the speed of the 2000's willingly sit down to watch something so stuck in the 1800's, that it might as well be played on a prairie somewhere, with a little house as a backdrop. These arrogant bastards won't even play in the rain.

You know how we can make baseball a little more entertaining? Allow players to hip-check and fight; I'd love to see Jeter or A-Rod go into the penalty box for half an inning for throwing down with Big Papi. Have the season start in October and end in March, and only play in the cold snowy cities of the north. Throw a bull onto the field, or one of those crazy people chasing geese. Something. Anything to keep my attention.

Land mines might be going too far, but I'd watch every game... even if it was played on a weekday afternoon.

Brad Stevens - The new head coach of...

Imagine you're Brad Stevens. The 34 year old coach of the Butler Bulldogs. You've only been a head coach for four years, yet you just made back-to-back runs in the NCAA Tournament, to the National championship game no less. You are spotlighted everywhere, via any possible means of communication - including this blog that nobody reads. You are the face of the Mid-Major David to the NCAA Goliath's. Beloved and adorned by anyone who's ever watched an NCAA basketball game.

So now what?

You're Indiana born and bred. Graduate of a small Indiana college, now coaching another Indiana school in Butler University. So where do you go from here? How loyal to the state of Indiana are you? Or to Butler for that matter?

Butler was a great launching pad for your career, and I'm sure you're roots are deep there, but your pocket? I'm not so sure. Do you stay on at Butler for a decent "Please, please, please don't leave us" pay raise, or do you strike while the iron's hot and snatch up one of the many job offers that will, or no doubt already have, come your way?

And it's not exactly the worst time to be the hot ticket item in the basketball coaching world.

The NCAA has some head coaching jobs available for immediate hire. Teams like N.C. State, UNLV, Miami and Missouri. Win or lose tonight, it's likely Jim Calhoun's last game at UConn. How sweet a job would that be? Taking over a two time NCAA Championship school (Three time champs if you lose tonight. How's that for irony?) in arguably the best, deepest and most televised conference in the country.

Here's a spin; If Lakers coach Phil Jackson does indeed retire after this season, as has been speculated, there's a good chance Duke's Coach K will jump at the opportunity he regretfully turned down in 2005, leaving one of the most prestigious coaching jobs left vacant for Brad Stevens to saddle up and ride straight down tobacco road glory.

But why stop at the NCAA level? The Miami Heat would love to get Pat Riley back on the sideline, but nobody actually believe's that will happen. Trade rumors of Erik Spoelstra being shown the door are probably a bit over-rated, but Stevens has had the kind of success and recent popularity to possibly nudge the Miami brass into reconsidering their decision to keep him. It's not like it would be a huge risk, what with James, Wade and Bosh all basically being capable of coaching themselves. Isn't that what their doing now?

But realistically, the Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings are almost certain to be looking for a new head coaches in approximately six more games. Three more teams with absolutely nothing to lose by taking a chance on Stevens.

So, does Brad Stevens take advantage of this truly once in a lifetime opportunity to coach a big time university, with final four potential every year, or upgrade to the NBA where every head coaching job is interim anyway? Or does he stay at home and risk the chance that his Butler team never makes it back to the final four - or worse - the sweet sixteen ever again, and is slowly forgotten, slipping deep down the depths on the head coaching waiting list?

Hearing Crickets?

India beats Sri Lanka to win 2011 cricket World Cup.

Yep, that's about enough of that...

Bloody Baseball

Well it's that time of the year again. The menstrual cycle of sports is upon us. Major League Baseball kicks off it's summer long doldrums today, boring us with excruciating SportsCenter highlights and blabber. Choking us with "amazing plays" and ferocious pitching stats, and all the other shit that makes baseball so pathetic.

With the speed the world moves at these days, with 4 going on 14G networks to shuttle mindless amounts of mostly useless information back and forth between iPhones, laptops and other online gadgets, it's amazing that anybody has the time to sit around eating Cracker Jack and swatting flies for three hours; waiting longer between pitches than it takes to download a feature length film to you iPad, that ultimately just ends up in the glove of  a catcher anyway. Go do that at home with your son for ten minutes and call it a day.

How can someone who spends their day getting all the information they need, from all over the world, faster than Super Man can think, sit down at the end of the day and enjoy something that moves slower than a lazy snail on ludes? Hell, we can't even wait for an erection in this country, how are we supposed to wait for someone to cross the plate?

Well, the answer is, they can't. Technology moves faster than baseball. Nobody has time to wait for their pitch anymore.

It's no surprise that over the past ten years Little League registrations have dropped by about 20% per year, while Hockey, basketball, football and Lacrosse no less, have all increased. It's all about speed. Kids don't want to sit in the outfield daydreaming in a hot sun all day when they can be playing something that moves faster; something like their Xbox or Play Station.

Pretty soon baseball will end up being outsourced to the Dominican Republic. The Santiago Padres have a nice, and let's be honest, more fitting ring to it.

How long until baseball goes the way of the horse and buggy; played only in small, isolated communities that don't believe in electricity or Wi-Fi? How long before the talent pool is so diluted that teams will have to choose captains and pick sides? Twenty years maybe?

Not soon enough I say.

Breaking down the Dog

Why is it that so many "Big Six" conference teams make the NCAA Tournament each year, only to be upset early and often by Mid-Major teams from conferences most people filling out a bracket have never heard of?

Here's my thought as to why there are more and more upsets in the NCAA Tournament each year. And it's not so much a thought as it is pure fact.

Let's start this commentary out here...

Kentucky lost all five starters to the NBA draft last year. All underclassmen, and all drafted in the first round. So with five NBA players on the team last year, surely they must have won the NCAA Tournament, right?

Not.

A close loss in the Championship game then?

Uh, no.

In fact, they didn't even make it to the Final Four - with all that NBA talent. How is that possible?

Simply put, it comes down to experience. They just didn't have enough of it in crunch time, when it mattered most.

The biggest upset of the first round... Hell, of the entire tourney, was Morehead State taking down one of the Big East Bad Boys in Louisville. Brackets were busted and heads were scratched  from coast to coast with that one. Really? Morehead State from... what conference was that again?

Do you think it mattered that Morehead State started ALL Junior's and Seniors? Kids that have played together for three or four years? Getting to know and trust in each teammates given talent and abilities on the floor? Maybe, just maybe confidence in each other played a role.

Why was this so shocking an upset? Because really, how much media attention is focused on these piddling little Mid-Major nobodies?

But that's just a coincidence, right? Let's look at a couple other Sweet Sixteen surprises.

Richmond, a number 12 seed is packed with Juniors and Seniors, surrounding an uber-talented Freshman. Still playing.

VCU, an 11 seed, had to play into this tournament just to prove it belonged, and now finds itself in the Sweet Sixteen. What makes up their top scorers and rebounders? Four Seniors and a Junior.

Of course that doesn't explain George Mason, who starts all upperclassmen beating, Villanova sporting a good mix of all classes in the first round, but that's what makes it a true upset.

The fact is, while all the super-talented players around the country are signing on with the big game schools, in the big name conferences, who get all the big time TV deals, just to get noticed for the draft they plan on entering after their Freshman and Sophomore years, it's the pretty good to very talented kids who take a scholarship at the smaller schools and play it out for four years. They aren't guaranteed first round money, if any round at all. They play for a school they plan on graduating and getting a degree from. 

So Kentucky had to restock with another handful of talented one-and-done freshman, and they are back in the Sweet Sixteen. Probably overlooked by most was their first-round two point squeaker over Princeton, out of the mighty Ivy League. A team they very easily could have lost to. But a team that also started predominately Junior's and Seniors, with a Freshman and Sophomore thrown in.

On the other hand, the number one seed overall  is blowing through this tournament like it should be. Ohio State has Seven Junior's or Senior's on  the team, and only four Freshman. One of those Freshman leads the team in every formidable stat, but he's surrounded by players who have three or four years experience playing together.

But here's the bottom line...

If I was a betting man, I would  say Kentucky and their freshmen will stay no where close to the 6 points they are getting from Ohio State on Friday night. I might'a even dropped a larger than small fortune on the game, gladly giving up a measly 6 points. Ya know, if I was a betting man.

...but, I'm not a betting man.

Dogging it in the NCAA Tourney

Upsets are called upsets for a reason. They are not supposed to win. But as we find out year after year in the NCAA Tournament, that's just not the case. And there's no stopping it either. Upsets are happening weather you're on board or not, so the best you can do is hope to be on the right ship when it leaves the dock.

There are ways however, to at least improve your odds of picking correctly. There are ways to give yourself a better edge when mucking over which dog will win, and which dog will bust your bracket. Hopefully the latter isn't the case, unless you're picking the UC Santa Barbara Goucho's to make a final four run. The idea is to pick an underdog without having that dog bite you in the ass. That happens when the upset you picked not only loses, but the team you picked against ends up making a nice run through it's region.

As you probably already know, a number 16 seed has never beaten a number 1 seed in the history of the tourney. So don't even bother trying that one. And a number 15 seed has only shocked a 2 seed four times. So again, don't waste an upset pick here. It could happen, but there is no sense in blowing your bracket for those odds. In fact, don't even think about picking an upset seed lower than a 14 over a 3 seed, and only then if the match-up looks juicy enough.

You wont usually find many 14 seeds worthy of an upset pick in your pool, but every now and then one sneaks in... And this happens to be one of those years.

Also, there really is no such thing as an upset when an 8 and 9 seed play. Technically an upset is the team who Vegas has favored to win, not where the NCAA Selection Committee slates them. So it is fairly common for an 9 seed to be favored over an 8 seed, and even an occasional 10 over a 7.

It's also pretty common for at least one 12 seed to knock off a 5 seed each year, so that is a great place to start looking for your pup.

Here's some tips on how to tell if the match-up has the potential for an upset.

How is the guard play?
What are the mix of the starters? All Seniors or Freshman?
Do they score over 70 points per game consistently?
How many players have tournament experience?
Does the coach have any tournament experience, and how did he fair when he was there?
How good is the team they are planning to upset?
What does Vegas think?

These are the match-ups with potential upsets:

Florida State #10 vs. Texas A&M #7
Penn State #10 vs. Temple #7
Michigan State #10 vs. UCLA #7
Georgia #10 vs. Washington #7

Gonzaga #11 vs. St. John's #6
Missouri #11 vs. Cincinnati #6
Marquette #11 vs. Xavier #6
VCU / USC #11 vs. Georgetown #6

Clemson #12 vs. West Virginia #5
Richmond #12 vs. Vanderbilt #5
Memphis #12 vs. Arizona #5
Richmond #12 vs. Vanderbilt #5

Princeton #13 vs. Kentucky #4
Belmont #13 vs. Wisconsin #4
Oakland #13 vs. Texas #4
Morehead State #13 vs. Louisville #4

Wofford #14 vs. Brigham Young #3
Bucknell #14 vs. Connecticut #3
St. Peter's #14 vs. Purdue #3
Indiana State #14 vs. Syracuse #3


Here are the potential dog teams that averaging over 70 points per game:

Gonzaga: 76.7
Missouri: 81.4
Marquette: 76.1
VCU: 71.5
Richmond: 70.2
Belmont: 80.4
Oakland: 85.6

Wofford: 73.8
Bucknell: 7.8

Note, Wofford and Bucknell are #14 seeds, but both have a legitimate chance of an upset. Particularly Wofford.

Consider this:

Wofford is returning all five starters from last year. A team that, as a 13 seed last year went to the NCAA tourney and came within two points of upsetting #4 Wisconsin.

They also have three players who shoot the three-ball well, at a combined .407 clip.

Oh, and just to add some meat to that juice, they are playing a BYU team that has lost two of their last three games after dismissing starting Forward Brandon Davies from the team for an "honor code violation". Davies was the leading rebounder and second in points to Fredette.

It's tough to pick against the second leading scorer in the country and all around fantastic player in Jimmer Fredette, but if you don't think BYU is going to go very far, you might consider looking like a Tournament God to everyone who sees your Wofford upset.

What was that "honor code violation" Davies broke you ask? Did he steal laptops, get a DUI, or beat up his girlfriend? Nope. His violation was for admitting he had premarital sex with his girlfriend.

Those silly Mormons.

The Maddening Madness of March - How to win your pool

Every sports outlet in the country, online or in print, is overflowing with March Madness. Brackets, predictions, stats, records and the like, all at your fingertips. From coaches, ex-coaches, players and ex-players, sports writers and commentators, telling you who to pick, who's going to upset who, and how to keep your bracket from imploding on you in the first week.

So why would you want to read about it here? Why take my advice?

Because unlike them, I actually have to dig into my wallet and fork over the twenty to fifty dollar entry fees it takes to play this, the greatest tournament on Earth. I also don't get paid for playing it safe and picking Ohio State to win it all, just so I don't make my network look bad.

Sure, Ohio State is the odds on favorite to win the National title, and there's a pretty good chance that they will win. So why not pick them?

Because it's likely that 40% of your pool-mates also picked Ohio State to win it all. And if they do, good luck coming up with enough points to pull ahead of them before the Championship game.

Nope. Here is what you need to do to give yourself a chance to win the money, prize or bragging rights. Whatever it is you're playing for.

Find a team that is good enough to beat anyone on any given night; SIX times. And no, Princeton is not one of those teams.

The Big East is highly considered the best conference in the country, and have eleven teams representing in the tournament. They have played against the best competition all year long. Unfortunately, they always tend to beat each other up along the grueling way.

The Big Ten and Big Twelve are also highly rated conferences and each have a few teams capable of beating anyone on a given night.

Stay as far away from the Pac-10, the SEC (except Kentucky) and Mid Majors as you can. While they are all good for first and second round upsets, don't get Bracket Buster happy and put Oakland into your final four... or final eight for that matter. And don't look at Florida as a deserving number two seed either. Like San Diego State, they will be bowing out of this tourney very early. As soon as this weekend perhaps.

Look for teams with exceptional guard play. They can carry your team far and keep them alive late in the game.

The main goal here is to pick a team that is capable and has a chance of winning it all. Not necessarily a great chance, but with enough talent and experience to squeak out a couple of tough ones. Teams that seem to be peaking at the right time. Nobody is peaking more than Connecticut right now after their incredible run through the Big East Tournament, but you still need to keep in mind that they lost four out of five games before that exciting run.

Kentucky is a very young team. All five starters were drafted to the NBA last year, but they do have plenty of talent and are peaking at the right time as well, and looking pronominal in doing so.

You also need to keep in mind the people in which your pool is being filled. Pick a team outside your geographical area if possible. If you are in the Southwest, you might be in Longhorn country and end up with an exceeding amount of pool members picking Texas.

Here is a short list of teams I believe are capable of winning it all. Try getting as many of these into your final eight and final four, and you should be in good shape by the end of the tournament.

Most people will be taking Ohio State and Kansas to win it all, with a fair amount on Texas and Pitt. If you go with these schools, you'll run the risk of getting behind in points and not being able to catch up. But, that's your call. You also get to look like a genius when you're the only one picking Louisville to win the title... and they do!

Big East
Pittsburgh
Louisville
Connecticut
Notre Dame

Big Ten
Ohio State
Purdue
Wisconsin

Big 12
Kansas
Texas
Texas A&M
Kansas St

ACC
Duke
North Carolina

SEC
Kentucky


Good luck in your pools, and be sure to come back and criticize me if I'm wrong. Or mad props me if I'm right.