The Pride Of Philly Sports

Yes, it’s Philadelphia’s own Gerald Henderson! And he’s delivering a cheap shot and getting floored in retaliation during an NCAA Tournament loss against West Virginia.

The lesson: Don’t go to Duke out of Philadelphia. I mean, just do UNC at least.

[via Deadspin]

March Madness, Literally

Really? The team we were making fun of in the first half — saying it was an NIT squad — is now in the Sweet 16. Jay Wright must be the best coach ever.

Seriously! ‘Nova was down 12-2 to Clemson about three minutes into the game, and somehow they are now one of the top 16 teams in the country.

And Villanova didn’t even practice. Looks like they just took some tips from Allen Iverson, then.

See?

Now this is what I was talking about. And, yes, that’s Kyle Korver’s younger brother Klayton — he has another younger brother, Kaleb, who plays college hoops — who the camera shows when they should be showing the winning team celebrating.

[via Soft Pretzel Logic]

Your Temple Pick Was Probably Wrong

Aw, nertz. Temple played good defense early, but is now simply getting outhustled down the court by Michigan State and it’s a big Michigan State lead at halftime. The Spartans went on a 15-2 run midway through the half and lead, 35-26. Ryan Brooks scored 7 points in just over a minute for the Owls and has 10.

Dionte Christmas has no points at halftime, and Mark Tyndale only has 2. For a while, Temple was shooting 20 percent from the field. Twenty percent! Temple had the 19th best effective field goal percentage in the country during the season.

Temple opened the second half with a 16-2 run in the Atlantic 10 Championship game against Saint Joseph’s; it will take something at halftime from Fran Dunphy, the Wizard of North Broad Street.

On the plus side, Billy Packer isn’t announcing this game. On the Xavier-Georgia game — one of my Sweet 16 teams is losing by double digits! — Packer just said a player “didn’t start playing basketball until he was much later in his years. From Kentucky.”

The Best Two Days Of The Year

I make a lot of jokes on this website, but here is something 100 percent serious: If you’re not into the first four days of the NCAA Tournament, please don’t bother talking to me this weekend. Or maybe ever. If you’re not spending your day at work today sneaking out to watch Temple play at 12:30 or maybe watching games online using a proxy

The moment I was 100 percent sure the Iraq War was an awful idea was when George Bush decided he wanted to start it on the first day of the NCAA Tournament. Clearly, he was a freedom-hating warmonger who interrupted the greatest sports days of the year with a stupid little war; I knew he couldn’t have a post-invasion plan. Maybe if John Kerry had said that at a debate, we wouldn’t have had to live through four more years of Bush.

Temple ate its pregame meal last night its game today is so early; apparently the Owls also are in a hotel somewhere in Wyoming for games at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Temple’s at 12:30, Joe’s and ‘Nova are tomorrow night. There are 29 other games today and tomorrow, and I have no doubt once again watching ‘em will be a blast.

Update: My buddy Dave wrote a March Madness column for the Daily Local; the website is actually working right now, so read it before it breaks again.

Brackets Make Sports Worthwhile Again

There are a couple of lulls in sports fandom throughout the year, but none worse than the post-Super Bowl drought. Most of the subplots of February after the big game involve off-the-field stuff: Free agency signings, trade rumors and the great NCAA at-large bid vs. Not In Tournament question. Most of the games are tired regular season teams playing out the string or resting for the playoffs or exhibitions, in the case of baseball.

But once March rolls around, college basketball’s Championship Week begins and we get to celebrate what might be the two best sports days of the year: Days 1 and 2 of the NCAA Tournament. Not only do you have a vested rooting interest — your bracket — but everybody also gets together and roots for the underdogs to win.

This year, we even get to root for the local teams, as Temple, Saint Joseph’s and Villanova all got in. Joe’s has the highest seed, an 11, despite Temple finishing 2nd in the Atlantic 10 and beating the Hawks in the finals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. TU and Villanova are No. 12 seeds. Temple kicks things off Thursday afternoon at 12:30 against Michigan State (winnable); Joe’s plays Oklahoma at around 6 p.m. Friday (very winnable!) and Villanova has a late-night Friday game at 10 against Clemson (not as winnable as the other ones).

I suggest you go print out a bracket and fill it out in pen first, as that makes it easier. And if you do that, please use the one from the NCAA’s website, which has this disclaimer: “The NCAA opposes all sports wagering. This bracket should not be used for sweepstakes, contests, office pools or other gambling activities.”

The NCAA opposes all sports wagering and, therefore, does not want me to bet on pro football. Does the NCAA lobby Congress to ban casinos? You know, if the NCAA was so concerned about people betting on games, maybe every game can just end in a tie instead. That seems like a better idea. Until there are three-hundred national champions, things just aren’t fair.