Alex Kreitman - Stealing signs

Ok, no I don’t, but I picked Temple to upset Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and obviously that didn’t happen. I also had the Owls knocking off one of the hottest teams in the second round, the Pittsburgh Panthers.

I do this every year. I get pumped for the start of the tournament, but then when games aren’t going my way I start freaking out. This people, is why you should not gamble. It’s not good for you.

But I need to remind myself that it’s March Madness. This stuff is supposed to happen and there a lot of games left.

I did survive another scare in the Xavier vs. Georgia game. I have Xavier in the Elite 8 and couldn’t afford for the Musketeers to go down early.

Click here to look at my bracket.

It’s going to be an exciting weekend filled with staring at the TV and the ticker of scores at the bottom of the screen.

One of the best games of the weekend should be tonight when Kansas State and Southern Cal meet. The top freshmen in the country, O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley square off in a first round showdown. I have Kansas State pulling off the upset.

I do this every year. I fill out my bracket then make last-minute changes before Thursday’s first round games approach. This year is no different.

My bracket is complete, with winners for every game, but I’m not so confident I’ve made the correct choices. But who ever is?

After talking with my friend Ben, we agreed that the NCAA Tournament is called March Madness for a reason. It’s the tournament that has experts’ heads spinning because they don’t even know who to pick.

Of course there will always be the favorites, the No. 1’s with only a few losses, but you never know who will rise up and beat the heavyweights. It’s anyone’s game. One and done. That’s what the excitement is all about.

I always spend way too much time filling out my bracket and for what reason? Ben said it took him 10 minutes, my Dad said it took him four. It took me three hours and I’m probably still not done. Kind of sad I know.

But here’s my thought process. I like to look up and down rosters and compare big wins and horrible losses. I like to look at both teams and find a factor that can make me pick it to move on.

For instance, if a team has a strong center or is good on the boards, and another team has weak rebounding, I almost always go for the team that is good on the glass. Reason being, that teams often start cold in the tournament because of nerves and things like that. So if you can’t rebound and the other guys can, you’re in trouble.

I also like a team with a dominant scorer. If a player is averaging more than 20 points per game, my eyes light up and traditionally I have that team heading far.

Then of course, you’ve got to pick some sleepers, you just have to. You can’t expect to have a successful bracket without going out on a limb and taking a 12 seed or a 10 somewhere down the line. My sleeper pick for the Sweet 16 this year is Temple.

I don’t think many other people will have this pick, which is good for an edge. Also, Temple has two excellent scorers which tend to energize their offense. Plus they play a streaky Michigan State team in the opener which has been overrated all season and rides on the shoulders of Drew Neitzel. When Neitzel struggles, the Spartans lose.

But it really doesn’t matter who you think is going to win because it’s all luck. I’ve known past girlfriends who have just picked which team’s mascot they liked better and they usually do pretty well. It doesn’t take an expert for this tournament. There are too many unknowns to really make an educated guess, so you’re better off tossing it up to luck. But I never seem to listen to that message so I’ll stress about filling out a stellar bracket anyway.

First off, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. With Irish in my blood it’s always a favorite holiday of mine, even though I haven’t gotten to celebrate it in style the last few years.

The time has come to fill out your NCAA Tournament bracket. The selection committee released this year’s bracket Sunday night and actually did a decent job this year with its choices.

Every year the talk is about the snubs of the tournament, with several teams on the bubble missing out. People have their own opinions about who is more deserving of an at-large bid and that sort of thing. This year, there was only one debate and it was a major mistake by the committee.

Herb Sendek’s Arizona State Sun Devils were left out of the tourney in favor of Arizona. The Sun Devils beat the Wildcats both times they played this season and had a better conference record. This pick doesn’t make any sense. The only thing Arizona had going for them, which apparently ways heavily on the committee’s decisions, is strength of schedule.

Arizona has the second strongest schedule in the country, but in my opinion that doesn’t matter, when Arizona State beat the Wildcats head-to-head. That alone proves that the Sun Devils are better. They beat them at home and on the road. Case closed, the committee screwed up. But other than that, I don’t have any major problems with who’s in and who’s out.

My only other issue is Duke getting a No. 2 seed over Wisconsin. The Badgers won their conference tournament and Duke lost in the semifinals. I guess the committee went with the overall body of work in this one, but I still think Wisconsin is deserving of a No. 2 seed. I guess the Badgers’ upset loss from last year still sits on the minds of committee members.

This year I will be filling out one bracket and one only. When I finish making my picks I’ll post them online and discuss them throughout the tournament. We’ll see how well I do.

Last year was the first year that I ever filled out more than one bracket and I’ll never do it again. I filled one out for our office pool at work that was different than my other pool with some college friends. I won the pool with my college friends, which was my serious bracket and the other I filled out with fun picks, going out on a limb with some of them. Looking back on that bracket, the picks weren’t fun at all.

It was awful watching games last year and not knowing who I picked in which bracket. It also wasn’t fun having two teams to root for which is why I’m back to one bracket only. It makes sense. I’m in several pools this year, but I’ll only have one bracket. If I’m meant to win, then I will.

Also, congratulations to Georgia. The Bulldogs pulled off an amazing SEC Tournament run with four games in basically three days. Their almost unprecedented accomplishment gave them an NCAA Tournament bid.

Benches cleared in the second inning of a spring training game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays earlier this week.

Yankees first baseman Shelley Duncan slid into Devil Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura spikes up. Duncan was thrown out by at least 10 feet and was immediately ejected after the dirty slide.

Tampa Bay outfielder Jonny Gomes raced in from right field and knocked over Duncan as players from both benches poured onto the field. No punches were thrown.

The brawl started four days after Yankees skipper Joe Girardi complained about Tampa Bay’s aggressive play in a previous game that injured backup catcher Francisco Cervelli.

Duncan and Melky Cabrera were suspended for three games each and Gomes was suspended for two. All three players were fined along with Girardi. Cabrera was disciplined for what the league cited as violent and aggressive actions during the incident.

This whole thing was nuts and I enjoyed every minute of it. I love when teams fight during baseball games. It adds a flare to the game that can only be matched by hockey.

In this case, Duncan was way out of line with his slide because he was out by a mile and his feet were so high up in the air, aimed at Iwamora’s face that it was obvious what he was doing. The base umpire reacted in tossing Duncan just as quickly as he called him out. He followed the out signal immediately with an ejection signal.

What ticked me off after the game was that Duncan couldn’t even fess up to what he did. He denied that his actions were intended to be violent and claimed that they were not intentional. What a load of b.s.

North Carolina ripped through Florida State on the second day of the ACC Tournament on Friday afternoon. Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington led the way for the Tar Heels who advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.

North Carolina looked good and I don’t see it losing the rest of the waeekend. If it wins the tournament that should give it the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which would seed the Tar Heels in Raleigh for the first two rounds and Charlotte for the third and fourth. They wouldn’t have to leave their home state until the Final Four.

The first day of the tournament was a little slow without any close games. The only upset came in the late game when Boston College took down Maryland. The Terrapins needed a win to make the NCAA Tournament and choked under the pressure. They started off with a big lead, but let the Eagles claw into it and pull out a victory. Sorry Mike Pulese.

I’m sure the games will get better tonight and over the weekend. I mean it’s the ACC Tournament, they better.

One minute before the trade deadline Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Seattle Sonics pulled off the third largest trade in NBA history.The Cavs and the Bulls are fighting for a playoff spot but the Sonics are practically out. Was it a good trade for any of the teams? It’s way too early to tell. I’m always against completly revamping your team in the middle of a season, especially in Cleveland’s case because they went to the finals last year with the same cast.

But In Chicago’s case I’m not opposed. The Bulls haven’t been able to find last year’s success and have been a major disappointment. They’re only a few games out of making the playoffs this year, but that’s only because the Eastern Conference isn’t nearly as competitive as the West.

Cleveland gave up six players in all. The Cavs got Ben Wallace, a premier shot blocker, Joe Smith, Wally Szerbiak and Delonte West. Out of those guys I think Wallace and West can make the biggest impacts. West has had a surprisingly good year and has been able to provide offensive spark from time to time. That kind of spark is exactly what LeBron James needs to take some scoring weight off his shoulders. Wallace provides a presence in the paint and is one of the best defenders in the league.

Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden are good pickups for the Bulls, but I’ve never really thought of them as great players. They’re role players and nothing more.

Either way it’s an exciting trade and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Indiana University will issue its decision Friday afternoon on the status of head men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. The school has already made its decision as to whether or not the coach will be suspended or fired after allegations of five major recruiting violations related to placing too many phone calls to recruits.

Sampson was already on probation and faces serious penalties. I haven’t followed this case all that closely, mainly because I just don’t care. But it’s important so I mentioned it. I’m definitely against giving gifts and illegal incentives to athletes, but this phone call thing seems a little blown up.

There are more than 100 open cases in the NCAA for recruiting violations related to phone calls. It’s a phone call. Is it really that big of a deal? Maybe it is.

NASCAR kicked off its season Sunday with the Daytona 500. Now first off, I don’t want to hurt any feelings here, but I’m not a big NASCAR fan. Born and raised as a city boy from Boston, auto racing isn’t exactly gospel up north. But I’ve tried to adapt to my surroundings and I’ve taken a slight interest in the sport, mostly with the help of joining a fantasy auto racing league with some brothers from the Times-News family.

Fantasy leagues are a great tool for bonding, harassment, love, fun, humor, winning money, losing money and a lot more. But it’s been a great way for our group to keep in touch with past co-workers and friends who have moved on to other places. We always have a lot of fun talking trash and sports.

To start our fantasy season I’d like to apologize to our league’s two-time defending champion Matt Tate. I was unaware until reading his hilarious and well constructed post on our site, that I have stiffed Tate on $20 that I owe him for winning the league this past season.

I plan on mailing a check out first thing Tuesday morning and express my deepest apologies. I hated seeing my name associated with the two others, one Josh Jones and Shawn Rine, for it’s no surprise they haven’t paid up. Ok, that was a cheap shot, much love guys.

But as for the season itself, I’m the first to admit I don’t know squat about NASCAR and most of my lineup selections are exact copies of the expert picks provided for assistance. I’m not as bad as every girlfriend I’ve ever had choosing the cutest mascot in the March Madness brackets, but it’s close. And I’m going to call that my friend Ben will comment on this blog by saying that every girlfriend is one. Although untrue, I know him all too well.

After Week One, I’m in first place top start the new season. I don’t know how, but I’m not surprised. Every year I start off at the top, but then gradually fade out and never win. I expect the same theme this year, but win or lose it’s all for fun and I’m looking forward to the road ahead.

So I spent the weekend in Atlanta visiting some friends and family and when I returned early Monday morning, I had to do a double take when I saw that Wake Forest beat Duke.

Freshman Jeff Teague scored 26 to lead the Deacs to the biggest upset in the ACC this season. More important than the No. 2 Blue Devils losing is Wake winning.

The Demon Deacons have flown under the radar all season, or at least under my radar. Playing with emotion after the sudden death of coach Skip Prosser, Wake Forest is right in the thick of the ACC standings.

I said last week that we can sew up the top seeds to Duke and North Carolina, but after that the Deacs are in the mix.

Wake Forest has five games left in the regular season and I think they need to win four of the five to have a decent shot at the third seed in the ACC Tournament. It still has to play North Carolina, its next game, but the next toughest game is Maryland at home. Winning three straight, Wake is hot and I have to say I’m kind of pulling for it now.

I think 80 percent of the state was pulling for the Deacs last night, but that’s just because everyone hates Duke. I think now I can pretty much be included in that category as well.

I’ve been begging for another team to step up to the plate to provide some good ACC drama and maybe Wake is the team to do it.

Give Wake credit for giving the head coaching job to Dino Gaudio since he’s done an amazing job helping this program stay afloat when it would have been so easy to deflate and drop below the surface after Prosser’s death. Gaudio has his group playing well together and winning games. In his first year as head coach and with the recent tragedy, it is truly amazing what Wake has accomplished thus far.

Starting the season in the top 25, N.C. State has been nowhere close to those coveted rankings since. During an up-and-down year where I can’t figure out if the Wolfpack is good or not, they took another turn for the worse Thursday night.N.C. State (15-9 overall, 4-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) got crushed on the road by Boston College (13-10, 4-6). The Wolfpack seems to go in spurts. It will win two games then lose two, win one then lose one. N.C. State has lost two straight, both road games, but both games they needed to win.

After beating Wake Forest and Virginia Tech back-to-back, the Wolfpack had a chance to sky rocket toward the top of the standings, well below Duke and North Carolina which seem to have the top two spots secured. But the Wolfpack could have been battling with Clemson and Maryland for the third and fourth seed.

Now, N.C. State finds itself in eighth place in the standings, tied with Boston College which just breezed through the Wolfpack after Tyrese Rice ran up and down the court scoring 32.

State has five games left and two are against the Tar Heels and Blue Devils at home. Good luck, the Wolfies don’t stand a chance.

The hype at the beginning of the season was that the big three were back. With three North Carolina teams ranked in the top 25 we were looking at a memorable season. It’s not over yet, but it’s been far from it. State hasn’t been able to compete. It has had some exciting games, but those were against lesser teams. I want the nail-biters to come against the big dogs, but I guess that’s asking for too much.

The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t lose Thursday night, but they lost their best player. Captain Rod Brind’Amour, a warrior on the ice, went down with a knee injury that will have him sidelined for four months. I’m sure it’ll be weird for members of the media to see a bruiser such as Rod getting popcorn and hot dogs upstairs in the RBC Center in a suit and tie. Injured players often watch games from upstairs unlike most other sports where they remain in the bench area.

I think this injury kills the Canes’ season. A rocky season so far still had promise. The Canes are leading the Southeast Division by two points, which makes them the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. But without Brind’Amour they’ll likely drop significantly.

With 62 points, Carolina would miss the playoffs if not for division winners getting an automatic seed. If the Canes drop from the division lead, they’ll likely be out of the playoff picture for the second straight year after winning the Stanley Cup.

Hopefully somehow the Canes can recover and keep playing well, but it seems like a tall task to ask.

When The Citadel men’s basketball team traveled to Alumni Gym to take on Elon University on Monday night, it marked the 3-year anniversary of the attack on Dominic Barrett, a dear friend of mine.

The balding, but beautiful 6-foot-7 inch specimen had one too many drinks along with me and some other gentleman friends of ours during a Monday night special of Yuengling beer and tasty wings. We followed the drinking and fellowship by attending Elon’s game against The Citadel.

Heckling is a common part of basketball and all sports, but that night will forever be stained in my brain, for that night my friends and dedicated readers, was the last night Mr. Barrett would heckle from such a close distance.

With the setup in Alumni Gym allowing fans to practically breathe on players whether they’re sitting on the bench or out on the court, heckling is heard by everyone in the game. In such a small space, a simple “You Suck Number 5,” goes a long way. A “Ref you blow,” chant can be left for all three officials to decide which one is under attack since all three can hear the accusation loud and clear.

But anyway, with a clear walkway behind both team benches for fans to get to their seats, Mr. Barrett found a path that he enjoyed. You see, Dom walked back-and-forth several times behind the Citadel bench yelling negative phrases, such as “You disgrace that Caroline blue color,” at their bench players. With a terrible record, most of the comments rang true. But also with a horrible season taking place, Dom caused some tempers to boil and rage to set in.

During a walk by, Dom shouted something at the bench again, but this time was different than the three or four prior. This time, and I’ll never forget it, Erick Wilson jumped from his seat on The Citadel bench and tackled Barrett into the stands while delivering several punches to his head.

The entire gym was in shock. Never before had I seen a player jump into the stands to attack a fan. This violent attack was unreal as Wilson delivered blow after blow leaving bruises on Barrett’s forehead and the then Elon junior stunned.

His friends, me included, were outraged. But I was feeling such a buzz from all the beer we’d drank that I rushed over to raise Dom’s arm up in there air as if he’d just been victorious in a boxing match. The gym erupted in cheers. Since half of campus knew the Great Dom Barrett, he was a legend, at least for that night or until the bruises faded.

I think we tried to jump The Citadel team bus after, but I’m sure that was the booze talking. We were amazed. Wilson was suspended indefinitely from the team and in my mind will forever be known as the Bulldog Bruiser.

Looking back on that night, it makes for a great story. I’m sorry Dom had to suffer the bruises, brief humiliation and discipline from the school, but it seems worth it. It’s worth it to say, “Hey, remember when …” Those are my three favorite words.

Monday night, Elon beat The Citadel to in my mind, avenge that violent evening. Well, not really, but that’s all I could think about during the entire game.

That headline reminds me of my college days. One of many sororities dear to my heart, Alpha Xi Delta, always had a party around St. Patrick’s Day called “Get Lucky with an AZD.” While I did on several occasions, so did North Carolina against Clemson on Sunday night.

The Tar Heels were down as many as 15 in the second half at home to the Tigers, who have not won in Chapel Hill in 53 tries, but somehow managed to climb back for a win.

Carolina forced overtime and then the game went into double OT where the Heels pulled away and won 103-93.

Tyler Hansbrough again showed me why he is the best player in college basketball. I see no reason why he would stick around another year at the college level since game after game his hustle and numbers are incredible. Hansbrough dropped 39 against Clemson with 13 rebounds. He also hit 17 of 19 free throws.

His ability to get to the line and then make free throws is impressive for a big man. At the end of every game when Carolina is on top, the Heels get him the ball because he is money at the line. You can’t say that for any other big man.

I think last week’s loss to Duke had a major impact on the Heels in the first half, but they obviously got their heads out of their, well we all know, and started playing like one of the nation’s best. But without Ty Lawson the Heels are still shaky. Half the time Quentin Thomas brings the ball up court he turns it over or gets lucky with an AZD and somehow recovers it. For their sake I hope Lawson gets healthy soon.

Just found out this morning that the Pro Bowl was Sunday. Ok, I knew it was on, but who really cares?

The Pro Bowl is the worst All-Star game in professional sports. It takes place after the season and players are so worried about getting hurt that no one really tries. But it’s worth mentioning that Adrian Peterson was the M.V.P after rushing for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Without Tom Brady and Randy Moss I had no desire to watch.

The Celtics, without Kevin Garnett, defeated the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. The Celtics remain undefeated against the supposed more elite Western Conference. It seems to me that Boston is in a class of its own.

 Paul Pierce scored 35 and Tim Duncan had a good game but the Celtics bench stepped up to keep San Antonio in check. Big win for Boston.

So, I’ve been living in North Carolina for awhile now, but it wasn’t until Wednesday night that I truly experienced the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina.

Now I’m no idiot, I’ve always known it’s a big deal, college basketball’s version of the Red Sox and Yankees. I figured that much out. But last night I went to Durham to watch the game with my buddy Drew, a big Carolina fan, and it was a great experience, much different than my days of watching it with college pals and coworkers in the office when I worked in the sports department.

We went to this luxurious apartment complex that friend’s of Drew’s work at. They had fancy rooms to reserve for residents, one with tons of TVs a big kitchen, pool tables, and the works.

The room we had reserved was a big movie theatre. It seats about 35 people with nice comfy chairs. We had a small group so there was plenty of space. Drew and I set up with a case of beer between us for easy access, per usual. It was pretty sweet.

In the room with the kitchen and pool table were about 40 Duke fans. All of them decked out in Blue Devils gear with tons of beer and pizza. It looked like a pretty wild party. It reminded me of a Super Bowl party, but it wasn’t. It was a Duke / North Carolina regular season game party. I was impressed.

I joined the four people in our group of seven and pulled for the Heels, why not. North Carolina lost so there wasn’t much to do after. We didn’t want to go out anywhere with Carolina colors on after the loss, so we let the Duke fans have their moment.

But we did hang out in our theatre for a bit longer and watched the news with press conferences from both coaches. WRAL in Raleigh kept showing aerial shots of Duke’s campus. There were thousands of people out celebrating.

The reaction by Duke fans was insane, it was as if they’d just won a championship, but they hadn’t. All that they had done was beat their biggest rival in early February in the regular season. Not a big deal? Think again.

I applaud the rivalry and I can’t wait for the next meeting March 4 at Cameron Indoor.