The kick is up and ...

It's good. Jay Feely hits a 34-yard field goal and the Jets beat the Patriots 34-31.

Good night, everybody.

The all-important coin toss goes to ...

the Jets. That's crucial. If they'd lost the toss, they were done. 

Let's see which Brett Favre shows up in OT. For the Jets sake, hopefully it's not the one that showed up in overtime of the NFC championship game last winter.

On the comeback trail

Suddenly, we have a game on our hands, folks. With Matt Cassel's touchdown pass to Ben Watson and 2-point conversion pass to Jabar Gaffney, the Jets lead is down to 3 at 24-21. The Patriots have scored 15 straight points and Cassel has his first 300-yard passing game. 

Somebody check the temperature in hell.

Paging Randy Moss...

The Patriots scored their first touchdown on a 19-yard pass from Matt Cassel to Jabar Gaffney. The drive covered 68 yards in 1:29 and made the score 24-13 Jets with 15 seconds left in the half. 

Gaffney's catch was a nice one, with Jets cornerback Dwight Lowery's face in Gaffney's chest. Gaffney has 4 catches for 54 yards and the touchdown. Randy Moss, meanwhile, has zero catches for zero yards and has been basically invisible so far. 

Does anyone else sense the Randy Moss-o-meter inching toward "disgruntled"? 

Jets strike back

After a New England field goal pulled the Pats to within four at 10-6, Leon Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and a 17-6 Jets lead. 

I knew I should have started the Jets defense/special teams in fantasy. This is why I'm 3-7 in both of my leagues.

Jets take early lead

The Jets drive 62 yards, thanks in part to a successful challenge and going 3-for-3 on third-down conversions, to take a 7-0 lead to start the game.

Is it too late to change my pick in The Daily News Showdown? 

J-E-T-S.

Patriots-Jets

Good evening, Patriots fans (at least those of you that aren't already parked in front of the TV). 

It's a cool, cloudy night at Gillette Stadium, and there's rain in the forecast. But everything is dry and warm up in the press box, which is all I care about right now.

Stay tuned throughout the game as I offer sporadic online commentary about this showdown for first place in the AFC East. 

Enjoy.

Small ball a thing of the past

While watching Friday's Phillies-Dodgers game at the Carnegie Abbey in Portsmouth, baseball greats Mike Schmidt and George Brett pointed out that teams don't use small-ball tactics - sacrifice bunting, moving runners, etc. - as much as during their careers in the '70s, '80s and '90s. Part of it, Brett said, is that players will see bigger paydays with home runs and RBIs than they will with sacrifices.
"After three years, they get arbitration and all they care about is home runs and RBIs, and their salary goes from $500,000 to a million and a half," Brett said. "I don' t think, in arbitration hearings, they say how many times you get the runner over, how many sacrifice bunts you had."
Schmidt said another factor is that managers and coaches aren't the same authoritative presences they used to be and players have no incentive to play small ball.
"The penalty for not doing it, there really is none," he said. "I don't think a manager or coaches will go to that guy and say, 'Next time you're in that position, you get that guy over.' I see them letting it go, like no big deal."
Schmidt added, however, that a lot of teams just plain don't play that way anymore, citing his former team, the Phillies.
"Phillies' teams are probably less noted for doing the little things to win ball games. They live and die by the long ball," he said. "Almost all their hitters hit home runs and they don't understand, or care to understand, the value of A-B-C baseball.
"Doing the little things to score just one run creates momentum. If something big happens, that's great. If they're thinking small, something big's more likely to happen."
Players also don't see it as much of a missed opportunity when they could have used small ball to score a run and don't, Schmidt said.
"'We'll hit a three-run home run to make up for that,'" Schmidt said. "They'll never go back to that and say, 'That was one of the reasons we lost.'"

More issues with Manny

George Brett and Mike Schmidt, Hall of Fame third basemen from the Royals and Phillies, respectively, weren't shy about voicing their issues with the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez on Friday afternoon at The Carnegie Abbey Club in Portsmouth. Among their beefs, which isn't just with Ramirez, was the size of the slugger's jersey. But the way many players wear their uniforms these days is irksome to both men.
"The way they wear their uniforms today is a joke," Brett said. "I'm so disappointing in Major League Baseball for allowing them to do that.
"You look at these guys and their pants go over their shoes, if you're a size 34 waist, they wear a size 38 pants, and baggy and just ridiculous."
Schmidt has less of an issue with today's baggy uniforms.
"I don't mind the baggy part of it. It's their generation, their right to set the style they want to have," he said. "To some degree, we did, with the stirrups and the high socks. That was the uniform of the generation."
Ramirez's jersey, however, goes too far, according to Schmidt.
"Manny's size 50 jersey, sloppy and hanging off of him, should be illegal," he said. "If the ball hits it when he's batting, it's a hit by pitch. He's got this big tent hanging on him, and if the ball hits it, he goes to first base."

Hall of Fame analysis

While watching Game 2 of the NLCS Friday afternoon at the Carnegie Abbey Club, Baseball Hall of Famers George Brett and Mike Schmidt were immediately intrigued when Phillies pitcher Brett Myers threw behind Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez in the first inning.
"He used to be pretty nasty," Schmidt said of Myers. "Kind of a tough guy image. I think he's softened over the last couple years.
"My guess is, this game could get a little nasty"
After the pitch, both Brett and Schmidt figured it was only a matter of time before Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley drilled a Phillies hitter. Brett thought Chase Utley, the Phillies' No. 3 hitter, was a strong candidate for the retaliation.
"He's thinking, 'They didn't hit the first guy, they didn't hit the second guy,'" Brett said. "Ryan Howard's saying, 'Hell, I hope they hit this guy."
Billingsley didn't hit anyone and Brett pointed out that, if he'd come close to doing so, both teams would have been warned and that likely would have been the end of it. Things were different when Brett and Schmidt played.
"They warn people right away now, and then they get fined and get suspended," said Brett, the longtime third baseman for the Kansas City Royals. "You didn't get suspended back in our day. I got in a fight with Graig Nettles the fifth game of the playoffs in '77, in the first inning of the game we got in a fistfight at third base. That happens now, they're kicked out, suspended without pay."

The week in photos

The Celtics made a fast break from Newport a day ahead of schedule, but what a week it was. Check out all the snapshots Daily News photographers took of players and fans during the week at NewportDailyNews.com. Click on the 'Photo Gallery.'

Celtics win!

Of course, that was the only possible outcome of Saturday nights' Green vs. White scrimmage at Salve Regina University. After two 15-minute periods, it was the Green (made up of Celtics starters Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo as well as Brian Scalabrine, Sam Cassell, Darius Miles and Patrick O'Bryant) who emerged victorious, 47-40.
In front of a packed Rodgers Recreation Center crowd, most of which was clad in Celtics green, the Green got off to a slow start and trailed much of the first period, thanks in part to the hot shooting of Eddie House, who scored seven of the White's first nine points.
The Green took control late in the second period. With about five minutes left, Rondo and Garnett hooked up on a breakaway that ended with Garnett throwing down a reverse dunk.
Miles might have produced the biggest cheers of the night with his rim-rocking, two-handed dunk with 26 seconds left to give the Green a 45-37 lead.
Anyone who showed up expecting an all-star style exhibition (i.e. no defense, lots of running and dunking), however, might have been disappointed. All the players clearly took the scrimmage quite seriously, perhaps none more so than Garnett, who was visibly (and audibly) upset with the Green's performance early on.
The Celtics will practice Sunday before wrapping up their training camp in Newport on Monday morning.

Celtics tackle a new sport

Even when they’re goofing around, the Boston Celtics play hard.
That was evident Thursday afternoon after their third day of training camp at Salve Regina University. A few of the players got their hands on a football and began throwing it back and forth across the gym at the Rodgers Recreation Center.
Soon, Ray Allen was playing quarterback, trying to hit point guard Sam Cassell on a deep route. The two never were able to connect, mostly because of the play of shut-down cornerback/point guard Rajon Rondo.
“Rajon’s 22, I’m 38. He’s faster,” Cassell said.
When asked if he’d be the better football player were it not for the age difference, Cassell exclaimed, “Hell yeah.”
He then said of Rondo, “He’s a good athlete. Look at those arms.”
Allen, though, said age had nothing to do with Rondo’s superior football ability.
“Sam never really could jump,” Allen said. “Sam wasn’t an athlete, Rajon’s an athlete.”
One of Allen’s throws was just beyond Cassell’s reach, but the 15-year veteran slowed up as he approached the wall. At that point, Kevin Garnett, sitting nearby, yelled, “You gotta dive for that!”
Later, Garnett stood up and played catch with Rondo. While Rondo fired tight-spiraling bullets at Garnett, the 6-foot-11 forward lobbed a couple of wobblers before sitting back down.

Getting to the point

Second-year point guard Gabe Pruitt has a lot of work to do if he wants to get into the rotation this year. In front of Pruitt is Eddie House, who backed up starter Rajon Rondo, and Sam Cassell, a 15-year veteran.
“You’ve got Sam and Eddie, and Gabe has to beat those two out,” Rivers said. “It’s a competition, and that won’t change. That’s probably good for Gabe. He’s got to be a more assertive as far as running a team. But he’ll get that … he’s young.”
Pruitt, selected out of Southern California in the second round of the 2007 draft, averaged 2.1 points in 6.3 minutes as a rookie last year.

Celtics training camp: Day 2

The Celtics were back at the Rodgers Recreation Center on the campus of Salve Regina University on Wednesday for Day 2 of their training camp. Here's the take of coach Doc Rivers:

“Great practice today. The ending was sloppy, and I didn’t like that part of it. But the first two hours was really good – great focus, the execution was tremendous for the most part. Then I thought we got silly at the end, but other than that, I thought it was a great practice. For a second-day practice, it’s one of the better ones I’ve been around."

Check out Thursday's edition of The Daily News for full coverage of the Celtics in Newport.

Perkins will stay on sidelines

Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins, who had offseason surgery on his left shoulder, won’t particpate in scrimmages while the team conducts training camp this week at Salve Regina University in Newport.
Perkins was on hand during the first day of the camp Tuesday, but he watched primarily from the sidelines. Taking his place with the starting team was Patrick O’Bryant, who is entering his third season in the NBA after two years with the Golden State Warriors.
“He’s the only choice, when you think about it,” coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s the only other tall guy, and (playing with the starters) is never a bad thing, and probably a benefit for him.”
Perkins, who averaged about six points per game in the regular season and the playoffs, said he’s looking to play in the third preseason game. Bryant, a 7-footer out of Bradley University, has averaged less than two points and two rebounds per game in about five minutes per game with the Warriors.

The Celtics in Newport

The Boston Celtics began their weeklong training camp at Salve Regina University on Tuesday and, after the team's first practice, fans and students stood outside the Rodgers Recreation Center to get a glimpse of the world champions, snapping pictures with cameras and cell phones.

While the practices aren't open to the public, team members will likely be seen around town and we'd like to hear about any brushes with fame. Post a comment if you see Paul Pierce at Mudville Pub or spot Kevin Garnett walking down Bellevue Avenue.

Time to hit the road

Maybe the Patriots shouldn't play any more home games this season. The first two haven't gone particularly well.
Week 1: Tommy Boy suffers season-ending knee injury.
Week 3: Pats get smoked by lowly Dolphins.

The next one might not be any better. The possibly very good Broncos come to town on Oct. 20.

From their mouths to our blog

Post-game quotes:
Randy Moss: "Their expectations were to come in here and put it to us. ... You could see, the way the Dolphins performed out there, they just wanted it more than we did."

Bill Belichick: "There's not too much to say. Miami played a good football game. They did everything a lot better than we did. They dominated on offense and defense. I thought we were competitive in the kicking game, but that was about it."

Joey Porter: "We came out here to win. It's not really about me. You really don't realize how good Tom Brady is until he's not out there. It's like a different team with Tom leaving. Not taking anything away from Matt Cassel, but those are some tough shoes to fill."

That's all, folks

It's time for me to go listen to Belichick talk about what a good football team Miami is and how they made a few more plays today than the Patriots did. I’ll be back in a bit with some lame post-game quotes before I hustle out of here to get home in time for the Packers-Cowboys game.

Hooray for Kevin O'Connell

Can't tell if the few Patriots fans left at Gillette were cheering Kevin O'Connell, or the fact that it wasn't Matt Cassel who came onto the field for the Patriots with 6 minutes left in the game. Maybe a bit of both.

Let's remember the past

It looks as though the Dolphins are going to win this one - not to mention give the Patriots a little something extra for last year's 52-7 whuppin - so let's take this opportunity to remember what it was like to be awesome.

Tickets to today's game ... CHEAP!

If you find a scalper and want to get into today's game, there should be plenty of seats available. The catwalk at Gillette looks like the Running of the Bulls.

Ronnie Brown is a beast

Ronnie Brown just scored on a 62-yard run. It was his fourth TD of the game, which is a Dolphins record. He is straight up destroying the Pats.

Who will Bill Belichick bring in?

Matt Cassel has been awful today. He's 16 for 24 for 112 yards. I really believed he could manage the game and let the defense do the dirty work, but I'm starting to wonder if that's true or not. He's astonishingly inaccurate. So this begs the question: Who does Belichick call on Monday morning? Culpepper? Testaverde? FLUTIE!?!?

Ryder update

The Americans lead 6 of the 12 matches, while two are all square. This is getting good.

Hooray for punts!

The Patriots fans finally found something to cheer about. Chris Hanson just pinned the Dolphins at the 1-yard line with a very nice punt.
The joy was short-lived, however, as an illegal touching penalty (the dirtiest sounding penalty in football) forces New England to punt it again.
On the second try, Hanson's punt was downed at the 20. No one cheered.

Just because Josh is a hater

The old college try

The Patriots just got scored on, again, by Ronnie Brown. Only this time, the Dolphins decided to switch it up and run a college play, with Brown taking the snap and running straight in. I thought the reason those plays don't work in the pros is because NFL defenses are too good. Most of them probably are.
Good call starting Brown on your fantasy team, Scotty. He's torching your beloved Pats, and apparently the fans here in Foxboro aren't too pleased. When was the last time this team got booed at home?

Good effort, Ellis

Ellis Hobbs just got lit up by Ronnie Brown on the goal line. Isn't it supposed to be the defensive player who hits the running back? Brown's not exactly known as a punishing runner, but Hobbs looked like he just got hit by an Evander Holyfield uppercut.
14-3 Dolphins.

Give it to Ricky!

Ricky Williams needs to get the ball more. I have no real interest in him other than he's on one of my fantasy teams and in our Daily News league, commissioned by Scott Barrett, we have 22 running backs and 21 wide receivers in play on each team. Hence, I am forced to root for a guy who no one in a normal league should have on their fantasy team.

Great day for sports

Not only are the Patriots going to improve to 3-0, but the Ryder Cup champion will be crowned and it's the last day the Yankees will play in Yankee Stadium. While I'm nowhere near being a Yankees fan, I was lucky enough to attend a game there, and the place is just awesome. It's hard to imagine it was built so long ago.

As far as the Ryder Cup, the Americans lead 9-7 entering today's singles matches. Of the nine matches happening right now, the U.S. leads four of them and four are all square. U.S.A! U.S.A!

Take down the banner

Really, do the Patriots need to put up a 16-0 banner? Sure, it was a great feat, one that one other team in NFL history has accomplished. But the job wasn't completed, and putting up a banner only makes every Patriots fan realize that it was a failed mission.

IN THE GRASP?!?!?!

I know another quarterback who was in the grasp much worse and yet it was never called. His name was Eli Manning.

We're underway

In a sure sign of what's to come, both offenses went three and out in their first possessions.
Gotta love the Matt Cassel era. Feel the excitement.

Where's Jim Nantz?

I know that this is not a high-profile game, but it's still the Patriots, meaning it derseves better announcers than Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots. At the very least, send along one of the Gumbels.

3-0, here we come

To say the Dolphins have a chance at winning this game is like saying there will be October baseball played at Yankee Stadium this season. Talent-wise, this game is a total mismatch position by position, including quarterback, where Matt Cassel is only going to get more confident. The Pats have a bye week next week, and the 49ers in Week 5. By the time they travel to San Diego for a showdown with the Chargers (and keep in mind, back-to-back road trips to the West Coast isn't going to be easy), the offense will be clicking in a Brady-esque manner. (OK, maybe not that well, but well enough).

Live from Foxboro

Good day, everyone. Your favorite Newport Daily News sportswriter is coming to you live from the cushy press box at lovely Gillette Stadium. I'll be here for the next several hours to rant and rave about the Patriots, their ridiculously easy schedule, their adequate QB, and plenty of other stuff.
And I'll soon be joined on the blog by sports editor Scott Barrett and perhaps executive editor Sheila Mullowney (Go Bills!).
So stay tuned and throw in your two cents at will as we watch the Patriots win another unexciting game against a poor opponent.

calipari and barnes have new england ties.

Memphis coach Cal made UMass formidable, if messy off the court. Barnes, now at Texas, was very efficient at Providence, if relatively unappreciated.
Memphis-Texas at halftime looks like the Final Four is going to be all No. 1 seeds unless Davidson can continue its run.
Texas may need to get its deficit under double digits early in the second half to get in contention and get its Lonestar State backing to have an effect.

It's all over

Well, for the past two NCAA tournaments, some have asked, "Who will be this year's George Mason?" Davidson is starting to look like the correct answer. They're 2:53 away from their third upset victory and a berth in the Elite 8.
Wisconsin is playing terribly and Davidson, again, is playing very, very well. Stephen Curry has outscored UW in the second half, which is a testament both to Wisconsin's suddenly pathetic offense and the fact that Curry is crazy good.
With Davidson up 16 with less than two minutes left, the Badgers are about done.
I'm too depressed to continue blogging.

Krueger out.

Stephen Curry in the NBA?

Obviously this kid is good. He's taken down Gonzaga and Georgetown, and now he's on the brink of leading his team to the Elite Eight. He's can create his own shot, and he can shoot the lights out, but will he be an impact player at the next level? At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, I'm not so sure. Remember, J.J. Reddick was a great scorer, too.

At the very least, he's exposing the Big 10 for what it is: A middle-of-the-pack major conference with a ton of pretenders year after year.

I'm officially nervous

With 15:57 left, Davidson is leading Wisconsin 46-38. Stephen Curry only has 15 points and actually is having a pretty cold shooting night (5-for-14). The Badgers are not playing to their strength, which is size. They're out-rebounding the Wildcats, but aren't taking the ball to the basket enough on offense.

Halftime

Wisconsin and Davidson are tied 36-36 at halftime. Time to switch over to the Texas-Stanford game. And, of course, this game is in commercials, too. Somebody get Rick some blood pressure medication. Now we're back and Texas is up 23-16. My Final Four is looking pretty good.
If I were the beer-drinking type, now would be a perfect time to open another.

So much for UW defense

Wisconsin is renowned for its suffocating defense that allows, if memory serves, about 52 points a game. Davidson already has 33, which worries me a bit. Davidson's Stephen Curry looks like he's about 10 years old, but he's one heck of a scorer.
So far, though, the rest of the Wildcats are keeping the game close.

Players on bench look really short

At first I thought it was an optical illusion of some sort, but the benches at Ford Field, where the Midwest Regional semifinals are being played, are below court level. The court is raised and the benches look like an orchestra pit. Very strange.
I can't wait for the first player to chase a ball out of bounds and go diving into the 12th row.

Badger time

OK, let's go through the pregame checklist:
Clean long sleeve Wisconsin T-shirt: Check.
Leftover fajitas: Check.
12-pack of Heineken (strictly for any guests who might stop by): Check.
Frozen Homer Simpson mug (for sodas): Check.
And we're underway from Detroit with Wisconsin taking on this year's tournament sweetheart Davidson. Four minutes gone and Davidson leads 7-5. Don't expect that to last.

More from Rick

"Like Scott, I was rooting for Siena, even though Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16.
My brother-in-law went to Siena back in the days when I think there was a jump ball after every basket.

How about coach Fran McCaffrey getting a look from PC? The guy's turned the Saints around, has a great graduation rate, was head coach at UNC-Greensboro and Lehigh and recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame in between.

He was a heady point guard at Penn, and, as a Philly native, knows the metro Catholic schools on the East Coast where PC needs to recruit. He'll be 49 in May. That's a baby, right Scott and Josh?"

Low seeds going to the Sweet 16

No matter who wins the Villanova-Siena game or the Western Kentucky-San Diego game, two low seeds are going to the Sweet 16 and will be the team that pulls at the heartstrings of fans across America. No matter what, the winners will be the team that everyone roots for, because everyone likes to see the underdog. Personally, I'd like to see Siena (because I'm a big fan of Albany, N.Y., for some reason) but I have Villanova in the Sweet 16, and San Diego (because any team that beats UConn is a friend of mine!)

Bite my tongue

Not hours after I commented how the Big East was running away with the fictional conference championship in the NCAA tournament, three teams went down, including Pittsburgh, a finalist in my bracket. Ouch. Marquette and Notre Dame, both of which looked good in the first round, had little bit in losses to Stanford and Washington State, respectively. Thanks to a wonderful Easter dinner, I didn't see much of the Pittsburgh game against Michigan State, but I'd be interested in seeing how the Panthers were beaten by more than 10 points.

From the keyboard of Rick

Rick is still having trouble with posting, so he's sending me posts via e-mail. I got this one a little late, but better than never.

"Great to see Johnston resident Joe Mazzulla, a former Bishop Hendricken standout, star for West Virginia against Duke.

Dan Mazzulla, his father, goes about 6-foot-4 or so, a few inches taller than his son, and starred for Johnston as a physical forward in the early 1980s.He's coach of the boys soccer and girls basketball teams at Johnston and is one of the funniest guys around, yet played with a toughness that has been passed down to his son."

On Wisconsin!

The Badgers are up 11 on the Kansas State Michael Beasleys early in the second half. They seem to be taking a Michael Jordan approach on Beasley: Michael's going to score, but make the other guys beat you. So far, it's working. Beasley has 17 points and no one else is in double digits for K-State.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Wisconsin's defense is nasty.

Big Big East

Is it me, or does the Big East seem like the cream of the crop in this tournament? Now I'm not going to say that a team from this conference is going to win the whole thing, but between Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, West Virginia, which is in the process of upsetting Duke, and Villanova, a middle-of-the-pack team that took down No. 5 Clemson last night, the Big East certainly has plenty to be proud of. The one exception to the rule could be Connecticut, which looked awful yesterday against No. 13 San Diego. Doesn't make Providence's two wins against the Huskies look that good, does it?

BooooConn!

How cool does the San Diego kid feel right now? Having never been in that situation, I wonder how calm he was before that shot. He might as well have been.
If it were me, I'd be thinking, "We've got nothing to lose. No one expects us to win this game, so if I miss, no one will lynch me. On the other hand, if I make it and we win, we just beat one of the most ballyhooed teams in the country."
And yes, I believe that a lot of San Diego basketball players could use the word ballyhooed.

Then again, if it really were me, I'd probably get swatted or put up an airball.

Duty calls

As much as I love the internet portion of The Daily News, I must call it a day and put out the actual paper. But who knows, I could be on later to add some more of the riveting analysis that gets people through their day.

Late whistles?

Is it me or are there a lot of late, game-changing whistles? I thought refs were supposed to swallow those things in the final minute unless someone gets absolutely decked? Not on a blocking foul with 9 seconds left.

Argh! Never mind, go UCONN!

Just realized that I have UConn winning in the next round. They're up 1 with 38 seconds left in OT. Go Huskies! You lame, underachieving, overrated Huskies!

San Diego? Really?

The No. 13 seed San Diego Toreros are up 58-54 with 50.3 seconds remaining. Just another disappointing year for Jim Calhoun and the Huskies, who haven't won much since Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor (spelling?) left for the NBA after the 2004 title. It seemed so long ago.

Wisconsin teams in the tourney

I thought my mom's question was worth a new thread.
Sadly, I don't think Marquette or Wisconsin has a chance to get to the Final Four. Anything's possible, but here's the basis for my theory:
Wisconsin can't make it because they can't score a whole lot. Eventually they're going to run into a team (Kansas) that is capable of putting up 100 and the Badgers simply won't be able to keep up. UW's defense is ridiculous, but at best they might hold Kansas under 80, and scoring more than 70 is tough for the Badgers.
As for Marquette, they're going to have their hands full with Stanford and, if the Golden Eagles should somehow escape with a win there, they'll play Texas, which I have in the Final Four.

Of the two, Wisconsin has the best chance, but no one in Badgerland should count on it.

I smell a "Best of the Blog" post

Now that Josh's mother has "Joined the Madeness," the time is now to ask questions about how goofy Josh was as a youngster. I think I know, but I need confirmation.

He ain't Husky, he's my brother

After taking a bit more of a "Josh Krueger 20-minute power nap" in preparation for the night shift at The Daily News, I awaken to see UConn down 46-45 to San Diego, the No. 13 seed. Now this would be a big-time upset, seeing as though Daily News staff writer Matt Sheley, a native of West Hartford, has the Huskies winning the entire tournament. Homer.

Clank! Clank!

I realize that TV networks put microphones near the rims to record all the action going on near the rim as well as the swish of the net or the clank of the rim. But every missed shot in the Georgetown-UMBC game is overpowering. I hope the commentators don't hear that in their headphones, because they'll be legally deaf after this game.
Sounds like someone whacking the side of a piece of sheet metal with an aluminum baseball bat.

*$#%@$@#!

Well, I wanted a crazy last-second shot, and I got it. Too bad it's no good for my bracket. WKU just hit a last-second 3-pointer to beat Drake by two. A great game, and a great example of what makes this tournament so fun. Would anyone outside of Iowa or Kentucky care about a Drake-Western Kentucky matchup during the regular season? Absolutely not. But in March, you can't turn away.

Some huge efforts

Players you've probably never heard of had just monsterous games early on the second day. Here's a look and the team's result:

Jack McClinton, Miami, 38 points - W, St. Mary's, 78-64
Stephen Curry, Davidson, 40 points - W, Gonzaga, 82-76
Tyrone Brazelton, Western Kentucky, 33 points - W, Drake, 101-99 (OT)

Let's go, Drake!

Shows what I know about basketball. Down four with a minute and a half left, Drake just came down the floor and jacked up a quick 3. As the shot goes up, I'm thinking, "No! Why would you take that shot?"
Then it goes in. Nice shot, kid.

Ever see a coach verbalize those emotions in that situation? Funny stuff.
"No! ... I mean, great shot!"

Much better

Tennessee won. Davidson is about to upset Gonzaga and Drake and St. Mary's are creeping back. 4-and-0 is not out of reach.

At least he's not crying

CBS just showed a quick shot of Adam Morrison, the former Gonzaga forward best known for his crying fit after the Zags lost to UCLA in the Elite 8 in 2006. Morrison, who now looks like Jesus with his long hair, still has the wear moustache. He was drafted by the Bobcats in the first round of the 2006 draft, but he hasn't played a game since undergoing surgery on his knee in November. WAH!!!

Drake trying too hard

Drake is down 16 with 12 minutes left against the aforementioned big, red, Muppet-like things of Western Kentucky, a No. 12 seed. WKU has all the momentum and Drake looks like its the last two minutes of the game. They're hoisting up shot after frantic shot with little success and pretty much abandoning their offense.
And here I thought a mid-major like Drake wouldn't be susceptible to the 5-12 upset trend, where the mid-major usually plays the part of spoiler.

Bad use of air time

CBS is using the moments in between timeouts to promote two of its upcoming shows: "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Ghost Whisperer." This is a big mistake. Britney Spears, who will guest star on the former, is just a disaster of a person and Jennifer Love Hewitt, the star of the latter, is over the hill at 29. If this was 1998, it would be a great idea. Just a decade late, CBS.

Top of the Hill

Western Kentucky, the No. 12 seed in the West Region, scored 47 points in the first half against No. 5 Drake and lead 47-38. The Hilltoppers shot a scorching 60 percent (20-for-33) from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 7-for-16 from behind the arc. Drake, who spent most of the year in the Top 25, are shooting 37 percent and will have to do much better in order to keep Western Kentucky - which did most of its damage with the starting five on the bench with foul trouble - to keep from moving on.

Day 2: Let's get it on!

Just because Day 1 of the NCAA tournament is in the books doesn't mean we're done blogging.
There aren't many attractive matchups in today's early games, but all four games are relatively close. Tennessee apparently is out to show that it ain't easy bein' a No. 2 seed, only leading American by 3. My Davidson pick (over Gonzaga) is looking OK with the Zags only up two and another of my upset picks, St. Mary's, leads Miami by five.
For some reason, I didn't pick any 5-12 upsets this year, but Western Kentucky is up nine over Drake at halftime. If only I'd remembered that that Hilltoppers' mascot is that weird, big, red Muppet-like thing, I definitely would have picked Western Kentucky.
Normally I don't pick games based on mascots, but that thing is funny looking and should be taken into consideration.

Thank you

Thanks to all who contributed today on the NCAA tournament blog. Check again periodically over the weekend for analysis on the games from the first and second rounds. Here's a breakdown of the first day:

Looking good: UCLA
Looking really, really bad but winning: Duke
Looking ugly: Winthrop in the second half
Feeling awful: Me after 9 Mountain Dews in 12 hours

And just think, we all get to do this again tomorrow!

Correction

When I said the Big East was going to go 3-0 with a West Virginia win, I was completely forgetting about Notre Dame. The Irish downed George Mason 68-50 (2006 seemed so long ago). The Mountaineers won 75-65 and will take on Duke in round 2. This is a matchup between a pair of 3-point shooting teams. Only time will tell ....

Could Big East go 3-0 on the first day?

West Virginia, behind a strong 3-point shooting performance, is Arizona in check but not allowing the Wildcats to fall too far behind. Still, I think the Mountaineers are going to win this game. Here's to Johnston resident Joe Mazzula, a Bishop Hendricken grad.

Making a statement

With 4:35 to go in the first half, UCLA has a 35-10 lead on Mississippi Valley State. Wow. Kevin Love may be the most impressive freshman of them all, and the Bruins (not Belmont) look like they're ready to make a run at the national title, the team's first since Tobey Bailey and the O'Bannons roamed Pauley Pavillion.

Who doesn't love Gus Johnson?

Score update

Four more games in the books:
Duke 71, Belmont 70
Kansas State 80, Southern Cal 67
Texas A&M 67, BYU 62
Washington State 71, Winthrop 40

Just for the record, Michael Beasley finished with 23 and O.J. Mayo had 20. Enjoy the NBA.

Are you serious?

Winthrop, who had Washington State on the ropes in the first half (tied at 29-29 at the break), completely crumbled in the second half, scoring 11 points .... 11 FREEKING POINTS! Are you serious? This is a team that made the NCAA tournament? I understand it's a mid-major team, but I guarentee you that Rhode Island could have scored more than 11 points in any half it plays.

Blue Devils survive!!!

Despite its best effort to give the game away, second-seeded Duke hangs on to beat No. 15 Belmont. Wow. This is the second year in a row the Dukies have struggled in the first round, but bottom line, it's a win. Here's the problem. If the Blue Devils run into another quick guard that can work his way into the lane as easily as that unnamed player (I'm sure he has a name, I just don't know it) from Belmont did, it's going to be two and done.

Belmont up 1 with a minute left

Speaking of Laettner, who is going to play his role this year? I'm thinking Greg Paulus, aka Steve Wojo 2008.

Why does everyone hate Duke?

Sheila poses a good question, the same one that posed to former Blue Devil Christian Laettner earlier this week by Jim Rome: Why does Duke have so many haters? They're well coached and they're a classy program. What's not to like?

Duke holding on

Jon Scheyer just hit the shot that could keep the Blue Devils alive in the tournament, a 3-pointer from the corner while getting fouled. That put Duke up 5, but if they keep allowing Belmont to just walk into the lane and hit layups, it'll be another "one-and-done" year for the Dukies.

Winthrop showing its true colors

Winthrop hasn't scored in the first four minutes of the second, and Washington State has gone on a 7-0 run to take a 36-29 lead. Maybe Cinderella isn't in Denver.

Big East is 2-0

Yes, I know we're just eight games in, but the Big East is looking like the conference to beat. Convicing wins from Marquette and Pittsburgh have the conference at 2-0. The SEC is 0-2 and the Big 12, Big 10 and Atlantic 10 all have one win apiece. The A-10 also has one loss.

Kudos to Cox

The good Lord knows this cable provider and myself have had some tough times, but Cox really stepped to the plate by showing a number of games on channels 801, 802 and 803. This only became apparent to me about 15 minutes ago, only because I just assumed Cox would be its usual awful self and offer one game. I stand corrected.

He's just missing a T

Michael Beasley is a beast. Hands down. That move at the end of the first half said it all. He's a big guy who can score, rebound and he moves incredibly well inside. On the other hand, O.J. Mayo is a little out of control.

Some halfitme updates:
K-State 37, USC 27
Duke 42, Belmont 35
Winthrop 29, Washington State 29

Good games thus far.

Freshmen a non-factor

Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo both have 2 points, yet Kansas State is up 27-19 with 5 minutes left in the first half. Too bad both of these teams will fall back into obscurity when they declare they're bound for the NBA.

No. 15 Belmont hanging tough

The Bruins (not UCLA) are within one with 7 minutes left in the first half .... upset in the making? Could Belmont be this year's Hampton from 2001?

Carolina fans pull one over on Duke

In searching for Duke's year-by-year results in the tournament, I went to the one site I knew would have the most accurate information - Wikipedia. The Duke men's basketball page has the team's colors listed as white and Carolina blue. Think a UNC fan went on there and offered that information?

Anyway, since they won the title in 2001, the Blue Devils have advanced past the Sweet 16 only once, including last year's first-round lost to VCU. That didn't keep me from picking them to make the Elite 8 this year. Go Dukies!

PS3 trumps Stanford-Cornell

I'm sure that game is over by now, but when I got home Stanford was up 30, so I decided to fire up the PS3 instead of watching more hoops. Now I've been captured by Call of Duty 4 and I may not be able to put it down to eat, let alone watch the night games. I'm going to try, but no promises.

I'm 6-2 after eight games

Yes, Stanford isn't done whipping up on Cornell in the Battle of Smart Kids, but I'm giving the Cardinal a W. That means I'm 6-2 through eight games, losing only Baylor and Temple (yes, I gave the A-10 far too much credit) My two finalists, Pittsburgh and Kansas, won by a combined 39 points, so I'm feeling pretty good heading into tonight's games.

This just in: Bobby Knight not a bad guy after all

You may not always agree with what he's done, or said for that matter, but Bobby Knight is a great coach. No one can deny that, and he has 902 reasons to prove that point. That being said, after watching him on ESPNs college basketball tournament coverage Bobby Knight doesn't seem like a bad guy. He's a guy with a ton of great stories, someone you'd love to go fishing or hunting with .... and I don't even hunt.

Break time

Well, the afternoon games are all but complete. Stanford is up 6-0 on Cornell, but no one needs running commentary on Stanford-Cornell, so I'm going to call it quits for a while.
But fear not, Scott will be back around 7 to offer his insight on the night games. And who knows? Yours truly might stop by to tell him he's an idiot.

As for now, I'm going to take the dog out for a run, while it's still light and not raining, so I can somewhat justify my afternoon of gluttonous behavior.
Then I'll be back, possibly to engage in some more gluttonous behavior (can you say, PS3?) before turning on the night games.

Enjoy the Madness.

Purdue in control

The Boilermakers are firmly in control. The Halon family will rejoice tonight. As will I, because I had them going to the Sweet 16, and maybe further. I can't remember.

Bears coming on strong

Baylor has cut it to 15 with seven minutes left and have outscored Purdue 27-23 in the second half. And second-half scoring serves as the tiebreaker if the game ends in a tie, right?

annoying sports terms

Credit Carter Blackburn and Jay Bilas of CBS for providing the newest entry in my list of sports terms I loathe and never want to hear. All day they've been referring to offensive rebounds and putbacks as "stickbacks." What, putbacks wasn't simple enough? Or was it too simple so there needed to be a more confusing term to make sportscasters sound smart?
You can stick "stickbacks" up there with "chalk," as in picking chalk in the NCAA tournament, which apparently means picking all favorites. Where did this one come from, and can we send it back, or better yet, club it over the back of the head and toss it in a ditch somewhere?

Four Dead in Ohio

With Kent State down 23 with 11:20 to go, and the likelihood of it reaching the Round of 32 in serious jeopardy, I'd like to take this time to remember the four students shot on the school's campus on May 4, 1970. It was long before the tragedies at Columbine or Virginia Tech, and all because they simply wanted to protest America's invasion of Cambodia. The massacre also spawned one of the greatest songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Who said I was just a sports guy?

Knucklehead was right

Baylor, one of my Elite 8 teams, is down 19 at the half. I guess I don't really know what I'm talking about. Well played, Knucklehead3.

Speaking of shameless plugs

I've seen some pretty good shooting today, but not as good as we'll see Saturday, March 29 at the first Newport Daily News 3-Point Shootout at Portsmouth High School!

Kent State heats up!

In just four minutes, Kent State has doubled its point total. Bad news for the Golden Flashes is that they're down 25, which is their largest deficit of the game.

Take it easy, Rick

Admittedly, I'm a pretty angry guy. But Rick McGowan is one of the more inexplicably and unpredictably angry people I've ever encountered. TV timeouts are part of life, man, get used to it. Just switch to another game.

Rick's distaste

Daily News sportswriter Rick McGowan, who has never been a big fan of the TV timeout, is having trouble posting but wanted to sure you all knew this take:

"Congrats to Xavier for advancing. But these marathon timeouts are annoying. With the X-Men leading Georgia 61-56 with 3:13 remaining, the three timeouts the rest of the way totaled more than six minutes. I could switch to the soaps and get more action - 4 affairs, 3 divorces, 2 hair-pulls - than I got during crunch time in this game. And it will only get worse once March Madness gets into prime time."

And who would have pegged Rick as a "All My Children" kind of guy?

Big dunk

While typing, I just missed a monster dunk from Marquette's Lazar Hayward, but it sounded good. Watching the replay, it should make SportsCenter. Marquette up 7 with 13:30 left.

Paging Kent State

The only game I haven't watched yet is, so far, the biggest beat down of the day. UNLV is smoking Kent State 29-8. You usually expect the 8-9 games to be somewhat close. Apparently Kent State didn't get the memo.

Nice commentary

Jay Bilas just referred to a Kentucky player as "not particularly skilled" and was trying to give a compliment. That kid's parents must be proud.

Good start for Marquette

I know it's silly to get excited about a 16-10 game, but Marquette is up by that score over Kentucky and looking good. Again, why did so many people like Kentucky in this game? Maybe it'll become obvious by the end.

Told you so

You scoffed at my proclamation that the Xavier-Georgia game was over when Xavier took an eight-point lead with five minutes left. Xavier won by 12. Who's scoffing now?

One down, five to go

Kansas, the champion in my bracket, made an absolute mockery of Portland State 85-61. I'm just glad the Jayhawks don't have to play Bucknell this year.

Top 25 college basketball players

ESPN has been running the Top 25 college basketball players of all time, and the top 10 go like this:

1. Lew Alcindor
2. Oscar Robinson
3. Bill Walton
4. Bill Russell
5. Pete Marovich
6. Jerry West
7. Bill Bradley
8. David Thompson
9. Larry Bird
10. Wilt Chamberlain

Because I never saw any of these players play in college, I really don't have much of a leg to stand on here. But only Christian Laettner at No. 12 and Tim Duncan at No. 21 have played in the last 20 years. Michael Jordan is No. 13 and Patrick Ewing is No. 16 (although he should be much higher). The question here is hasn't anyone who played during the late 1990s and/or 2000s worthy of being on this list?

Hungry?

What is it about sitting in front of the TV and computer, watching sports and being bombarded with food and beer commercials that just makes me want to eat junk food and drink beer? I really wish Taco Bell delivered.

Who is Sundiata Gaines?

If you haven't heard of him before, you'd be in the majority, but this guy is great. He looks older than Greg Oden, but I like his intensity. I think the tide is turning .... I'm actually rooting for the Bulldogs. Blasphemy!

X-Men coming back

Xavier has battled back. They're down 46-42 with the ball. I don't care that much, since I had Xavier losing next round to Purdue, but it would be nice to get a point from the Musketeers.

Who ya got?

Marquette-Kentucky? At least I'll get to watch one of my home-state teams play today (Wisconsin is on past my bedtime), but I'm rather nervous for the Golden Eagles. As our resident SEC expert, Scott, what's your take on UK?

Not-so-sweet 16

How many coaches of 16 seeds do you suppose give a speech like this before facing the 1 seed?

"Look, guys, we all know that no 16 has ever beat a 1. Whadaya say we go out there and be the first 16 to beat a 1? Who's with me?"

Or, at this point, is it just, "Well, it's been a fun, albeit short trip. Let's just go out there, have some fun and try not to embarrass ourselves."

Michigan State up 35-26 at the half

Judging by the first half, the Spartans look like they're moving on. They're doing a job on the Owls inside. Blog is blocked? How are people supposed be wasting that estimated $3.8 million in productivity if they can't log on?

Blocked blog

Just got an email from my Air Force friend in Vegas, and he said our blog was blocked by his office computer. What's that about? I realize he's supposed to be busy keeping our country safe and all, but how's he supposed to concentrate on that when he can't take a break to come over here for some basketball banter from time to time?
Hopefully no one else is having that problem.

Upset alert?

Georgia is still beating Xavier. Really tells you something about the A-10, doesn't it? How badly would URI have lost in the NCAA tournament if they hadn't lost 8 of their last nine games and finished the season with a loss in the first round of the NIT?

CBS is making a big mistake

Why show the Temple-Michigan State game if we know there is no chance John Chaney is going to strangle anyone? Not only that, but Georgia, which captivated everyone with its run through the SEC tournament, is playing and they're refusing to show that game. Someone needs to inform CBS Mateen Cleeves no longer plays for MSU.

Really looking forward to the USC-KSU game

Two of the top freshmen in the country face off in the first round, with Michael Beasley and Kansas State (anyone know how he ended up on Manhattan?) going up against O.J. Mayo and Southern Cal. I've seen Beasley a few times, and he's as good as advertised, but I have yet to watch Mayo (call that East coast bias). The last time I actually saw Mayo in a game was the youtube clip of him throwing the ball into the stands after a he dunked in his final high school game. There were still 30 seconds left in the game. Is he still a moron?

Game Mix time

Couldn't decide which game to watch, so I opted for all of them at once, thanks to the Game Mix channel, which splits the screen four ways. The picture quality isn't great, but it's still probably better than watching on a 27-inch TV or computer monitor.

Time to find out how good the A-10 really is

Xavier, the Atlantic 10 frontrunner, is currently losing 9-8 to an terrible Georgia team, and Temple is about to play Michigan State. I've haven't been sold on this conference since Lou Roe was in a UMass jersey, but let's see if the Musketeers can live up to that No. 3 seed.

Let's get a look at Kansas

Switched over to the Kansas game in time to see Mario "Super Nintendo" Chalmers drain a 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks up 7-3. I figure I might as well watch this game now before it gets out of hand. Four minutes in, Kansas just scored 7 straight and lead 11-3.

Poll question:

As the person who runs the office pool, is it OK for someone to say to you, 'Here's my bracket, but I don't have $5 on me right now. I'll get you back tomorrow."

Personally, this is a day you should be gearing for in early November, meaning by the time March comes around, you know to carry a fresh $5 bill on you at all times. Now keep in mind, sportswriter Josh Krueger is currently unpaid for The Daily News pool, so I know which way he's leaning. But I'm merely looking to get a broader view.

Which game to watch?

Three games tip off right around 12:30 (Portland State-Kansas, Xavier-Georgia and Temple-Michigan State) and with DirecTV's Mega March Madness (shameless unpaid endorsement) no local TV network tells me which game to watch. Georgia-Xavier starts first, in about 12 minutes, so I suppose I'll start there.
At 12:30, I'll probably head over to watch Michigan State bore Temple to death. Yeah, I know, Big Ten basketball isn't too exciting. But just because they don't score 80 points a game (or sometimes in two games), Big Ten teams can play.
Especially the Wisconsin Badgers.

I already regret picking UCLA

Just tuned in to CBS's pregame coverage, and they're discussing injuries to Kevin Love and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Great.
Then again, it could all be a hoax to get the Bruins' competition overconfident. Yeah, that's it.
Go Bruins?

Kansas is No. 1

If you picked up the paper today, you'll see that I picked Kansas to win the title over Pittsburgh. I know a lot of people - including my two co-workers, Rick McGowan and Josh Krueger - are picking heavyweights UCLA and UNC. Not that Kansas isn't a heavyweight, but they quietly won the Big 12 tournament and lost just three games all season. Bill Self is a great coach, and wouldn't it be fitting for him to bring a title to Lawrence, beating Roy Williams on the way there?

Join the March Madness

Daily News staffers Josh Krueger and Scott Barrett will be offering their insights on the first round of games Thursday. The action starts and noon and continues until 16 teams have punched their ticket to the Round of 32.