Everyone know who we are...

First scrimmage of the year

We tied the Red Sox today, 10-10, in our first scrimmage of the year. The Playmaker was 2-3. He smacked a second inning bases loaded double to right center to knock in two runs. (He also had a dink single and a K.) He pitched the second inning of the game and gave up 1 hit, 0 runs and struck out 2.

Yes!!!

As Marv Albert says, YES! we let The Playmaker stay up with us to watch Louisville win the National Championship.  We got home from AAU around 9:15.  The plan was to let him stay up until 10.  That turned into staying up until half time.  Once Hancock started draining threes, we let him stay up for the whole thing.

Great Father-Son-Memory.

We out...

Today brings the end of the workweek and the start of a nine day school vacation.

Woo!

Hoo!

Never gets old...

Suh-weeeeet...

This almost NEVER happens to us...

The teams we cheer for seemingly never win the title.  Sure, there have been occasional blips on the screen. The Phillies have given us two in 45 years: 1980 (when we were in the 7th grade) and 2008 (when we woke up The Playmaker, who was six, and sat him on our lap so he could watch Brad Lidge strike out Eric Hinske).  And the 76ers won it all in 1983 (freshman year in HS) when Moses predicted they would roll, fo, fo, fo.  Oklahoma won in 1985 (The Boz was a redshirt sophomore) and 2008 (In Stoops We Trust). And Louisville got us one in 1986 (think: Sweet V, errrr, Milt Wagner).

But that's it.  The 76ers have sucked since then.  The Eagles had some really good teams, but always came up short -- usually due to the inept coaching of Andy Reid.  The Phillies are now old.  Stoops has lost his way.

But we tacked another skin on the wall last week.  As we predicted, Michigan gave us almost more than we could handle.  Yet, as we also predicted, Louisville dug down deep and hopped on the back of Our New Hero, Luke Hancock.

Randoms:

1. We've never seen Peyton Siva play a better game in his four year career!  For once in his life he said, "Eff it!  I'm NOT taking the outside shot.  Instead, I'm going all playground and taking the ball to the rack."  Time and time again he got to the tin.  The few times he didn't finish, his Brother Bigs (namely Chane Behanan) were there to convert his misses.  We've abused Siva, especially the past two years.  We tweeted time and time again that Louisville could not win a championship with him as their point guard.  But it turns out they couldn't have won without him.  Much like Hancock earned his place in Cardinal folklore, so too has Silva.  In the most important game of his career, he played his best game ever.

2. Luke Hancock!  He's our all time favorite Card, along with the aforementioned Milt Wagner.  He's the type of kid you want your son to be, or your daughter to bring home.  He's selfless.  He's a leader.  He's just a good kid.  Google what he's going through with his father and you'll want to hug him.  Replay the video of when Kevin Ware shattered his leg.  While everyone else (including Rick Pitino) was freaking out, cringing and turning away, Hancock went right over to Ware.  He put his hand on his chest and immediately began talking to him. Seriously, we'd take this kid home in a second and raise him as our own.  On the court, his game is precious.  He shoots an old fashioned set shot.  He's slow on offense, yet he beat defenders to the hoop the entire Final Four.  And he's become a very good defender -- something we couldn't have said even six weeks ago.  Pitino has told the world, "When Luke got here, he'd never been in a defensive stance before."  (As such, he's now the role model for the slow and defensively challenged Playmaker.)

3. Chane Behanan!  Yes, he still is soft on the defensive glass.  But, man, did he own the offensive glass Monday night.  That, along with the fact Michigan had no defensive answer for him in the paint, was nearly as big as the Siva/Hancock factors.  Now we just need him to come to his senses and realize the NBA is not fond of 6'7" power forwards leaving after their sophomore year.

4. The Fab Five! We respect two of the five.  Juwan Howard always kept his mouth shut in college and has carved out a nice NBA career by working hard. Ray Jackson, was never all that good, but he too kept his mouth shut and was content in the shadows of others in Ann Arbor.  Chris Webber?!?  Total fraud. Cried poverty at Michigan until it came out years later his family was actually well off.  Sucked as a 76er.  Blamed everyone but himself for the fact he could no longer play at any level of respectability.  Jalen Rose?!?  A flat out punk in college.  Now he's magically transformed himself into an ESPN talking head. Too bad he's a homer and someone who's afraid to say anything remotely critical. Jimmy King?!?  He sucked as a player, which is no crime.  What was a crime was the fact that he fancied himself a hall of famer.  Literally.  And when Michigan lost big games, which the Fab Five seemingly always did, he was a total baby.  Who will ever forget Bobby Hurley torching the Michigan Men, only to have Pu$$y King label him after the game as nothing more than "average." 

Louisville randoms...

1. We barely remember the 1980 championship victory over UCLA.  We definitely remember the Sports Illustrated cover with Darrell Griffith throwing down.

2. In 1982 we remember watching Milt Wagner play in the Final Four with gloves on both hands due to a skin condition.

3. In the summer of 1982 we were in The Basement and read an article on a high school senior named Billy Thompson from Camden, NJ.  He was the top rated player and said he wanted to follow his former HS teammate Wagner to Louisville.

4. Fall of 1982: As an 8th grader we stayed up late one night watching Louisville play at UCLA.  The Cardinals lost, but we were amazed at their athleticism, amazed at how Denny Crum had them press the entire game.  Seemingly every basket they made was a dunk. We became a Louisville fan for life that night.

5. The Game of the Century in the 1983 Final Four against Houston: We were the better team, but ran out of gas in the New Mexico altitude.

6. We were a HS senior when Louisville won it all in 1986.  We watched the game at SJH's house.  Perhaps we drank beer before, during and after the game.

7. As for tonight's game, we are not confident.  We can easily see Michigan winning.  And yet, somehow between Pitino, Luke Hancock and Russdiculous ... we think Louisville will find a way to squeak out a victory.

First baseball practice of the spring...

The Playmaker went 1-1 in the intrasquad scrimmage and caught the whole game.  He smoked a laser to deep left center field for a 2 RBI double.

Tim Henderson

Wow...

Clifford...

At least we won't go 1-161...

As Brz would day: Not good

The Greatness of Doc Halladay is gone.

McSwain over Jay Bilas...

Kimbro...

Milt...

The Greatness of Louisville is back...

1986 championship team

Billy Thompson, Milt Wagner, Kevin Walls, Mark McSwain, Kenny Payne

Best we can do...

A A U

We lost the first game of our AAU tournament,42-20.  The Playmaker, in the role of 6th man, had 4 points, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 rebound.

Suh-weeeet vacation crib...

Nick Saban's. Wow.

All set...

Had final AAU practice before our weekend tournament.

Hey, Indiana...

Best we can do...

You know what?!?

Indiana got lucky at sheeeeeet...

Good Time Larry

Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy

March Madness, Day 1 ... {Harvard Edition}

Wow.  What a great first day.  Was home by 2:15 to watch games.  Out from 6-7:30 at AAU practice.  Then watched from 8-1.

Randoms:

1. Great performance by Harvard!  Duh, right?!?  They shot well enough, exposed New Mexico for the frauds they are, and put Steve Alford on the hot seat.  And they got their first March Madness win ever.

2. Jay Bilas and Greg Anthony are still the smartest guys on the college basketball block!  Could listen to them all day.

3. Doug Gottlieb is a total sheeeeet stirer!  He speaks his mind, and he goes out of his way to tweak people.  He couldn't stop slapping Harvard with, "They have relaxed their admissions standards with the basketball team."  Classic.  And he basically said Pitt's starting point guard was not a D-1 player.  Love the guy.

4. What's up with New Mexico State's Sim Bhullar?!?  Seriously, watch the highlights from yesterday's NMSU loss to St. Louis.  The kid's a laugh a minute.  He's about 7'5", 370, no lie, and he gets up the court as fast as we do.  Good gawd, man, he's slower then Big Z was back in the day for the Cavaliers.  It's also a solid bet hat the kid undoubtedly drinks a lot.  Just look at him.

5. Speaking of drinking, let's welcome back Colorado State Coach Larry Eustachy to the Big Dance!  Google his name from his Iowa State days.  The pics are epic.

6. The mailman delivered our package of Louisville gear yesterday!  The Playmaker wore is official Gorgui Dieng jersey to AAU.  And he's wearing it to school today, as well.

7. Having every game on TV, spanning four different channels, is perhaps the greatest advancement in sporting television!  Ever.

8. Finally, we are taking our annual March Madness Personal Day today!  Don't call or text, because we're on the couch for 12 consecutive hours.  And, yes, we're dismissing The Playmaker from school at 11:30 so he can join in the fun.

Bringing it...

The Playmaker had 8 points (4-5 shooting) in tonight's 20 minute AAU scrimmage.

Robert Morris ... Robert Morris ... Robert Morris

The Boz + 1...

 

 

Today we turned 45.  Got to school (complete with a two hour snow delay) and found the following on our desk: a turkey wrap from our favorite deli, a bag of Milano cookies (which we gave to the students) and a gift card to Best Buy.

 

Well done.

Still glowing...

Coach P

W-O-W...

The greatness of John Lannan.

TGIF...