And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. (SPORTS!!!!)

Now that we have the election nonsense behind us we can return our focus to sports, and sports gambling, which is the focus of this little corner of blogging and what I enjoy writing about the most.  I'm just going to touch on a few things today that have happened while I was out in Las Vegas and relatedly, while I was sick with the travel crud afterwards.

1. The CFP early ranking remain crap. Nothing against them really, but they don't mean shit at this point. The only thing that we really learned from them are two things. First, the CFP committee understands their marketing obligations to the B1G and the SEC. They are in love with brands, not teams. I don't think this will change any in the future. Second, I'm not as upset about Boise State being close to BYU as most people are. While I feel for Indiana, they have it all in front of them. But if Boise State and BYU played on a neutral field I feel the former would be favored.  Who I feel for is Army, who might be the best of the Group of 5 teams but who might not get a chance to show it.  The CFP committee says that they "watch all of the games" but that is certainly not true. Otherwise the rankings would look far different than what they do.

2. The NFL is top-heavy this year. Kansas City, Baltimore, Detroit, Buffalo. Those are the 4 teams right now that seem like they are Super Bowl Contenders. Teams that we thought might be good (Houston, San Francisco, Tampa Bay) don't seem to be all that good. There are other teams out there with winning records but they don't seem to really have a shot. The fact is the NFL is not very entertaining this year. Most games are poor, the officiating is borderline awful, and the fact that you only get three games per day without paying for a package that's not available unless you subscribe to a certain service makes Sundays must-miss TV.  And no, NBC, we are not waiting all day for Sunday Night, we're using that time to get ready for work on Monday.

3. College basketball is BACK. There have already been upsets, the return of Calipari and a handful of teams that looked REALLY good so far. This is going to be a REALLY good season, and Big XII Men's Basketball is going to be fire.

4. The NBA is back.  Zzzzzzzzzz.  Call me when the playoffs start.

5. The NHL is starting off hot. Scoring is up, there are some amazing things happening on the ice, there's a new(ish) hockey team in Utah. Oh yeah.

We're currently in the best time of the year, a time where football is on TV 7 nights per week. There's not day without a football game until almost Thanksgiving. Yes, some of it is bad, really bad, but it's a needed reprieve from the noise that surrounds the world right now. And, if you don't like the football games, there's basketball and hockey on if you're looking for something to do.

Since I was in Las Vegas and then down with the travel crud there will be no discussion of sports gaming this week. I honestly have not had the energy or time to re-run my numbers but I'm going to get them updated Sunday morning so I should be ready to go next week.

Good luck this week however you choose to play. 

March Madness: The good thing is, there's no clear favorite.

Outside of Villanova and (possibly) Virginia I'm having a hard time finding a team that I like to go deep into the tournament and win the championship.  That doesn't mean there aren't good teams, only that there is not one great team in this year's crop where you look at them and say "wow, they could win this thing".

That said, let's take a preview look at some of the key players....

Villanova. Consistently, over the last few years, one of the best teams in the nation. Yes, I know that Xavier won the "regular season" Big East title and they're plenty good, but 'Nova has shown under Jay Wright that they understand how to peak at the "right time" and they have talent to spare. They're also early betting line favorites to win so if you're filling out a bracket I don't think you can go wrong there.  One thing to look at with the Wildcats is back court play. The Wildcats are lead by all-world PG Jalen Brunson and have SIX players who average double digits for the season. In short, they're deep, and talented. They also have a points differential of +16.0 for the year.  They did have some injury concerns with Phil Booth and Eric Paschall both struggling and because of this they have zero depth once you get past that front six. Earlier in the year they lost rising Freshman Jermaine Samuels and have yet to replace his production in the rotation.  Still, their first-six is among the best in basketball.  But that lack of depth might hurt in the quick-turnaround environment of tournament play.  (Early Odds: 9/2)

Virginia. The Hoos nearly lapped the field in the ACC regular season and are currently a unanimous number one selection. Head coach Tony Bennett has them firing on all cylinders right now although they did receive a scare against a discombobulated Louisville team in Kentucky. For Virginia, it's all about defense.  They only have three players averaging double-digits for the season and there's a legitimate question of how they are going to score enough points to beat a team that eventually will get hot and score on them. Still, Devon Hall and Ty Jerome shoot better than 40% from behind the arc and Kyle Guy makes the offense go. Because they are so long and athletic in the interior they cause opponents fits on the defensive end and even with sub-par offensive numbers are outscoring their opponents by almost 15 points per game this year. My biggest concern with the Cavaliers however is their youth, and the fact that they're not used to the crucible that is the NCAA tournament. If they can win the ACC tournament I might be more inclined to view them better, but that's not a given. (Early Odds: 6-1)

Duke. The Blue Devils will always be somewhat of a threat because they are coached by perhaps the best in the business in one Coach K.  They have a star in Grayson Allen, who is also one of the biggest villains in college basketball for good reason. While Allen is their best player, he can also be their biggest liability when he loses his cool. For all of the attention given to Allen by the media however, it's Freshman Forward Marvin Bagley III that provides Duke with the bulk of their offensive talent. Bagley, at 6'11" is a force, both inside and out. He's long, athletic, and is a danger on both ends of the court.  Duke might have the best six-man rotation in the league this year, but after that things get REALLY dodgy. To me their inside play, outside of Bagley is a huge concern, as is finding someone coming off the bench to provide meaningful minutes which will be needed in the round of 32 games for sure. Duke is another team who MIGHT convince me otherwise should they win the ACC Tournament, but right now I'm hard pressed to put them past the Sweet 16 depending on their draw of course. (Early Odds: 5-1)

Michigan State. It looked, for a while, like Michigan State and Purdue were going to be the two best teams in the B1G and it wasn't going to be all that close.  This was before all of the scandal hit college basketball and Miles Bridges' name dominated the headlines which obviously caused somewhat of a distraction. Fast forward to the oddly-timed B1G tournament and Bridges was still on the floor, but Sparty's mind was not when they lost to Michigan in the semis. Michigan State has so much length on the inside it's ridiculous, and, like many other top teams they have five players who average double digits in points. They also play tough defense and are well coached by Larry Izzo.  Continuing a theme is lack of depth. Sparty has almost none. I also think they have concentration issues at key points in games. My thought is Bridges is a "one and done" player so how much will that factor into their tournament play?  I think this team is overrated and it's best basketball of the season is firmly in it's rearview mirror.  (Early Odds: 8-1)

North Carolina. There seems to be some debate whether Duke or North Carolina will receive the one seed that inevitably seems to go to the 2nd ACC team every year despite evidence to the contrary. Given that Duke beat UNC 74-64 just a few days ago unless the Blue Devils falter badly in the ACC tournament I think UNC is looking solidly at a 2.  Even then I think that the Blue Devils are looking at a 2 because I think Kansas gets the 1 should they win the Big XII tournament.   Joel Barry II and Luke May drive this car and are possibly the best 2-man combination in college basketball this year. After that NC have 3 other players that average as close to double digits as not to matter, and a couple of guys on the bench that can provide minutes with only minimal fall-off. My biggest concern for the Tarheels is on the interior. They have some athletes inside, but they haven't been playing especially great basketball of late and I don't really think they have the manpower defensively to stop several other teams. (Early Odds: 12-1)

Kansas. Here's what you need to know about Kansas. By beating Texas Tech two weekends ago they salted away their 14th consecutive Big XII regular season championship. This year's version of the team is led by Big XII Player of the Year Devonte Graham.  Graham, a Senior Point Guard is the swizzle-stick in KU's cocktail. Graham averages over 17 points per game, is a defensive stopper at PG and also has over 200 assists for the year. He's a Senior who had his best season ever right when the Jayhawks needed him. Offensively, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk has been a huge contributor for the Jayhawks, as has 7 foot center Udoka Azubuike.  Kansas is tall and long, although not especially athletic at certain positions which I think might ding them in the tournament long run. They also, insert broken record here, have depth issues. The fall-off after the top five scorers for Bill Self's team is ridiculously large.  That said, I think Kansas is the prohibitive favorite to win the Big XII tournament and snag the last top seed. (Early Odds: 10-1)

In my mind the one seeds, currently, stand as follows:

#1 Overall: Virginia
Other #1 Seeds: Duke, Villanova, Kansas

2-Seeds:  North Carolina, Michigan, Purdue, Xavier

3-Seeds: Michigan State, Wichita State, Auburn

4-Seeds: Cincinnati, West Virginia, Tennessee, Texas Tech


Teams no one wants to play in the first 2 rounds:

Michigan. I have a sneaking suspicion that Wolverine basketball head coach John Beilein could take your rec-league team and make them league champions after a month of coaching them.  That's how improved this Wolverine team is playing right now from where they appeared at the beginning of the year. If the curious timing of the B1G tournament this year doesn't trip them up, this hot-shooting Michigan team will spell trouble for anyone who draws them in their group. If you're one of the number ones and see Michigan in your bracket, look out. (Early Odds: 9-1)

Houston. Houston should be the favorite to win the AAC tournament based on the way they've been playing of late. Head Coach Kelvin Sampson has them playing hard, shooting well and causing teams such as Cincinnati and Wichita State fits.  Minus a win in the conference tourney, I think Houston gets one of those low at-large bids and pulls off an upset or three in a possible Sweet 16 run. (Early Odds: 100-1)

Creighton. Pretty simple, they just beat Villanova which is no small task.  This is a team that I think might be the "Butler" of 2018 if the draw falls right. They finished tied for 3rd with Seton Hall in a very competitive Big East trailing only Xavier and Villanova. (Early Odds: 80-1)

Rhode Island. The knock against the class of the Atlantic 10 is that they've lost their last two.  But they really had nothing to play for as they locked away the conference and are gearing up for the tournament. I expect Dan Hurley's Rams to be an-handful as the tournament gears up. (Early Odds: 50-1)

I'll have some thoughts on the other conference tournaments and some insights on possible upsets as the bracket gets filled.

For now, enjoy the agony and ecstasy of Championship time.

College Basketball: Catching you up if you haven't been paying attention.

I get it, you live in Houston and you don't really follow College Basketball.  You love your Texans and all forms of football, you've been (correctly) paying attention the the Astros and you understand the Rockets might be pretty good this year but you just can't get into round ball.

But you WANT to understand the game a little.  So you turn on Houston sports talk radio and you get, conversations about who the Texans back-up QB will be next year and two low-functioning idiots arguing on the air.  Or so-called "man-talk" which doesn't resemble any conversations that males actually have.

Houston, in short, is a sports media wasteland. It's a bad sports town that really only celebrates it's worst professional franchise.

That's OK however, because we're here to provide you with some simple talking points that will place you well out in front of your fellow coffee-klatch conversation mates....


1. Trae Young (G-Oklahoma) is really (really) good.

He's averaging 30.3 pts per game and is shooting 40% from 3 point range. He's the best player in college basketball right now and it's not close.  If you've paid any attention the the NBA of late the player to whom he gets the most comparisons to is Steph Curry. His school is not too bad either, currently sitting at 16-5, 2nd place in the conference and 1 game behind perennial conference champion Kansas.


2. Speaking of the Big XII, they're really good this year.

The conference has 4 of ten teams in the top 25, with Texas, Oklahoma State, TCU and Kansas State having shots at the big dance. (granted, OSU is a stretch and will need a strong close). The best team, at the moment, is Kansas, who are ranked number 7 in the country, seem to be on track to win the conference championship yet again and should slide in as a solid #2 seed in the tournament, with a real shot at winding up a one.  Bob Huggins has West Virginia playing well, and Texas Tech is a contender in the tournament, and for the regular season title.

3. The American could be a 3-bid conference.

Since Houston is in your town, you might want to say that they're really pretty good this year. They sit at 16-5 and have good wins over Wichita State, Providence and a 34 point demolition of Arkansas. Cincinnati is ranked #5, is 20-2 and just beat the Cougars by 10.  Wichita State is a shoo-in for the tournament, but they're finding life much harder in the American than the Missouri Valley Conference, something that should make them much better come tournament time.

4. Virginia is the best team in the ACC. Not Duke or North Carolina.

If you only pay scant attention to college basketball, you might want to know this come tournament time. Because the Hoos are real, they're long, athletic and should make a deep run in the tournament.  Duke is 2nd best, but they're three games back from Virginia and just got beat (at Duke) on National television. They are also the team in college basketball that is the easiest to dislike. It's not beyond reason to think that the ACC could be a 10 bid league this year. Granted, some teams will need to finish strong, but I put them at at least 8.

5. Remember the Big East?

After they accepted a bunch of Conference USA teams to member ship the basketball only Catholic schools broke-off, kept the name and have played one of the more entertaining brands of basketball. Villanova, Creighton, Seton Hall, Xavier and Butler will be in the Tournament, with Providence having an outside chance with a strong finish. Marquette and Georgetown will be contenders in the NIT. (But you won't watch the NIT because you're in Houston).  Villanova is the best team in college basketball right now but injuries are a huge concern.

6. Arizona is good, again.

At the beginning of the season I picked the Wildcats as the eventual National Champions, they then proceeded to start off slowly and make me look a little silly, but they've righted the ship, currently stand atop the Pac-12 and are in serious contention for a number one seed.  Behind them is a good USC team, followed by Washington and UCLA.  When the season first started Arizona State looked like they couldn't lose, but they've cooled off, losing five games in conference play and while they should make the tournament that could be in jeopardy if they continue to slide.


7. The top four are.....

Here's where I see it today, with the number one seeds going to these teams:

Villanova
Virginia
Purdue
Arizona

For last four in/out and other bracketology I recommend reading Joe Lunardi of ESPN He and I are pretty much in agreement except that he has Kansas with the 4th 1-seed and I still have Arizona. (which he has as a 3-seed, I disagree with that).

So, there you go. A primer to college basketball so you don't sound totally clueless when speaking to your co-workers, friends or random people at a sports bar.

You're welcome.

Brent Musberger: "You were looking live" at a great career.

News coming out today that Brent Musberger will be retiring to Las Vegas January 31st prompted me to spend just a minute thinking back on both his career and what it means for us going forward as sports fans.

Most young folks will only remember Mr. Musberger for two things. his tone-deaf comments regarding OU running back Joe Mixon and his hilarious comments about Katherine Webb, girlfriend of then-Alabama QB A.J. McCarron.  And that's too bad.  Because for those of us with considerably more gray hair, Musberger WAS sports in an era where we didn't have near the access and outlets we enjoy today.

Back in the old days, major college sports on TV was limited to ABC, CBS and NBC period. Whereas today we have ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, WatchESPN, ESPN Classic, Fox, Fox Sports1 & 2, NBCSportsNetwork, CBSSportsNetwork, the regional Fox sport's networks, B1G TV, PAC-12 TV, the SEC Network, the soon-to-be ACC Network, CSN, Root Sports, BeIN sports, the WB and a host of other channels that carry live games, all available through your cable box, dish network, U-verse service or, increasingly, streaming online. And that doesn't include NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB networks, TNT and other outlets for professional sports. There are a bunch more sports available for live viewing today than there has ever been in the past. This is a good thing.

It also means that the audience for live sports is bigger than it's ever been. This is a good thing as well.

A bad thing from this is that the old guard, those that are used to the 'old' way seem to be having a tough time adapting to the new reality of things. As such, it's probably time for them to go. I knew an older gentleman once who had spent his entire life working as a school superintendent where he presided over racial integration efforts and advocated for them. As he got older he never did stop calling Black people "colored". He meant no malice by this and, in fact, when he was much younger this was considered a non-offensive term. But he wasn't on social media, he wasn't trendy and he wasn't up with the politically correct movement. In short, time had passed him by.

Mr. Musberger's comments about Katherine Webb remind me a lot of that man. In that I don't think he meant them to be disparaging but he also didn't really understand the cultural zeitgeist at all. We now live in an age where even compliments toward attractive women are frowned upon, especially coming from men who are old enough to be their grandfathers. We also live in a society where looks are (supposedly) not something that should be taken into account when judging someone. This works better in theory than in practice, but it's there nevertheless.

I think his Mixon comments spring from the same ignorance, although many people have taken it upon themselves to proclaim him a "bad man" without giving it a second thought. The fact is that society has a much healthier attitude towards women, and women's issues, than it has in any time in history. But there are still pockets of resistance on both sides of the aisle. Some of that resistance springs from hate, some from ignorance, and some from just wanting to tear everything down for the spite of it. And those people are sucking up the oxygen in many areas of the discussion.

Sports is one of those areas, where the lynch mob mentality has lead to travesties like the Duke Lacrosse Team, and the win at all costs crowd gave us the tragedy in Baylor and Joe Mixon doing bad things resulting in only token punishment. In both of those cases there were extreme opinions. You would like to think that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Sadly, as with most things in society these days, it doesn't.

Brent was, ultimately a victim of a society changing (for the better) and him not changing alongside it. ESPN is pinky-swearing that the Mixon backlash has nothing to do with this, but I think we all know better. Musberger's Mixon views meant that he had to go, that he was a man out of time and out of step with popular thought regarding 2nd chances and who should receive them. Fooball, and the people who cover it, still have a long way to go when it comes to women's issues, and it will be the next generation of commentators who are going to have to do a better job negotiating that mine field than the last generation has done.

From a "fan of sports" perspective however I can tell you that I'm bummed . Not because I agree with Musberger on Mixon (I don't, not entirely but that's a different post that I'll probably never write) or because I think hitting a woman is not wrong (I do, in polite society hitting in general is unacceptable) but because I'm going to miss his calls, I'm going to miss "You are looking live" and "our friends in the desert", I'm going to miss his asides and even his awkward moments. I'm going to miss a play-by-play caller who is not so desperately corporate that not toeing the company line is as unthinkable as slandering Nick Saban.

In short, I'm going to miss the personality, and the individuality that Mr. Musberger brought to his calls. I'm going to lament being saddled with the current corporate group of announcers who never say a controversial thing, ever, and whose delivery is somewhat wooden, but solid. I'm going to miss the individuality and 'wow' moments that the great announcers of the past brought to the sports watching experience. I'm going to miss the fun.

So thank you Mr. Musberger, for a lifetime of memorable moments, and doing your best to explain them to me in the most colorful manner possible.  On my next trip to Vegas I'm going to look for you, I'm going to introduce myself and offer to buy you a drink.  I hope you'll be willing to talk sports and betting and tell Vegas stories to me for a while. Even if I have to buy you two drinks.

Thoughts: College Football Playoffs, NFL Player Discipline and Kentucky's Men's Basketball Team.

Last night on Twitter I posted this question:

Less Credibility Right Now: NFL player disciplinary process or College Football Playoff Committee? Discuss

I'm going to be honest. It's pretty close.

When you're having to perform advanced logic-gymnastic routines to explain your top four something is wrong.

I've been against how the CFP Committee has been ranking the teams for a while now. It's just gotten worse this week.  The CFP definitely has an SEC bias, despite there being rising evidence that the conference is down this year.

This is a mess.

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida State
4. Mississippi State
5. TCU
6. Ohio State
7. Baylor
8. Ole Miss
9. UCLA
10. Georgia

1. I get that Alabama has all of the myth and mystery behind them, but they lost to Ole Miss.
2. I'm a fan of Oregon as well, but they lost.
3. The undefeated, defending B(C)S champions are ranked 3rd?
4. Not only did the Bulldogs look inept against 'Bama, but the game wasn't close.

The most disturbing thing is that we're obviously dealing with an entirely subjective process here. There is no objectivity.

For all of it's flaws at least the B(C)S tried to inject some level of data into their numbers.  And the Group of 5 treatment is shameful. 

My rankings:

1. Florida State
2. Oregon
3. Alabama
4. Baylor
5. Ohio State
6. Mississippi State
7. TCU
8. UCLA
9. Ole Miss
10. Wisconsin

Also, I would have Marshall ranked somewhere around 20-25. At some point, winning has to matter folks.


Either Roger Goodell must go, or the entire punishment system needs to be re-thought.

This is a mess, and it's a mess created by a man with an out-sized ego and no self-awareness or understanding of how all of this is making him look.

Viewing himself as the White Knight of the NFL has not gone smoothly for Goodell as he's been reminded that, ultimately, it's the owners who pay his salary. Even more troubling is that he seems untethered from any concept of fairness, and has now decided to level punishment based on potential future actions (as he sees them) rather than on the actual crime committed. (In Peterson's case, a plea-bargained misdemeanor.)

There is no semblance of due-process or respect for the collective bargaining agreement, not even a modicum of fairness in the Goodell courtroom and a league that's spinning out of control right now. What we have now is a dual system of punishment that's largely based on two things.

1. Whether or not pictures or video exist.
2. Just how outraged the media, activist groups have decided to be.

That's not justice, it's a freak-show.


Forget losing, will anyone get within double digits of this Kentucky team?

Last night's dominance against the 5th ranked Jayhawks was very, very impressive.  Sure there are injuries and many things that can derail a teams (projected) dream season, but if this team stays healthy they are going to be a handful for anyone in the country.

Kansas tried to hard, in my opinion, to continually drive the ball in the land and get UK into foul trouble. All they got for their troubles were a lot of blocks and fast breaks the other way.  The team that eventually challenges UK (and there will be 1 or 2, I'm sure) will be the team that shoots lights out from behind the arch.

Until then (to quote Uncle Verne) My Goodness!

NCAA Basketball Freshman: right goal, wrong argument.

After what has been arguably the best NCAA Men's Basketball tournament in recent memory we're now going to be subjected to a bunch of emotional hand-wringing by the Nation's moral police over the dire state of NCAA athletics and the desire (of some) to put an end to the "one-and-done" rule that allows players to declare for the NBA draft after one season in College.

The first salvo was launched by Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari who has a starting five consisting of all Freshman.  What this means is that, next year, Calipari is likely to lose his entire starting line-up to the draft.  Closely following this was NCAA President John Emmert who concurred that the rule is bad for basketball.

This has lead to the emergence of the moral-outrage brigade who are constantly here to remind us that the NCAA is a dirty monster who's only goal is to exploit the athletes at every turn. While I'm no fan of the NCAA, I also don't think that they are decisively anti-athlete.  What they are is pro-member institution. And the NCAA should be pro-university, because they (not the athletes) make up the membership.

So the argument against one-and-done is not one of athlete concern, nor is it about making money for either the NBA, the NCAA members or the athletes. It's an argument for better basketball at all levels.

Calipari and Edelmen can glower at each other all they want, bang their ideologically pure chests and scream to the heavens that the system is short-changing the players but, in reality, what they are each doing is forwarding an idea that is to their own benefits. Calipari would most certainly benefit from keeping players around longer and Edelmen would benefit professionally from having his published ideas confirmed. While Edelmen likes to paint himself as ideologically pure, there is a financial benefit in the marketplace of ideas to being correct. No one pays attention to someone who is wrong frequently, unless that person has the surname Krugman.

I've little patience for chest-bangers. In the long-run they typically are outed for the personal-attention/glory seeking mongrels that they are.  Give me someone who admits they stand to gain financially from something and I'm more likely to trust their motives.  From that standpoint, I can understand what drives you and I can believe that you really care about this issue.

All that being said, I'd like to see the end of one-and-done because I believe it will result in a better quality of basketball. And yes, that's a selfish motivation because I enjoy watching sports played at the highest level.

But, wait. Didn't I just say that we are exiting one of the best men's tournaments in recent history?

Yes, I did, but what we're not seeing any longer are the best TEAMS in recent history. The games are close, but the quality of play is spotty.  Because of a lack of player development NBA games are borderline unwatchable, and for every Kevin Durant that makes it big there are 100's of other stories of players leaving early only to wash-out.

If I had my way we'd return to the days when you had to complete your eligibility in College before going pro. I understand that this is not feasible in today's "get rich now" society and I also understand that some players lack the book-smarts to make it through College. In the latter cases I would propose four years in the D-league as a substitute for being able to sing an Alma Mater.

None of this is ever going to happen however, because we've bastardized sport into a corporate game where profits win and the fans lose, always, without question. I propose eliminating one-and-done to make basketball a better game, but the owners and honchos aren't concerned about that, they want a more profitable one.