To the victor (the bear) goes the spoils

We challenged you, you responded(kinda), and here is your prize, i present, without edit, the ramblings of Victor the Bear.

The Champ Is Here… The Champ Is Here!



Well since I’ve never been one to turn down a chance to toot my horn I will gladly accept my winnings from TB&TB Bracket Challenge. No, I’m not going to sit here and thank North Carolina for living up to my expectations. I’m not going to sit here and gloat on the fact that I ended with 1420 points… 400 more than Brown, 680 more than the reigning champ, Big, and 820 more than who I’m assuming is Gerry Dorsey. I’m not going to sit here and tout that at one point I was ranked in the top 70,000 of all the ESPN Brackets. I’m not going to sit here and call out the people I know who voted for our current President didn’t follow his bracket and picked against him, way to support your choice gents! I’m not going to sit here and give the stereotypical acceptance speech thanking God. No sir, I’m not going to do any of that. But what I am going to do is use this moment in the limelight to talk a little SPORTS and what has gone on and what is coming up.



BASEBALL

Our Texas Rangers beat the 2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Yankees Sabathia and their ridiculous lineup. What I think is bittersweet here is that I love to see A-Rod fail, but since he’s out on injury (funny how long it takes to recover from an injury when you don’t have steroids) it’s just as great to see Teixeira fail. How about his opening day line… 4 at bats, 0 runs, 0 hits 1 walk and he left 5 guys on base. Love it. As far as the Rangers go… can we just call it a season now? I’ve been a Ranger fan my entire life, even went to the last Night game at the old Arlington Stadium. Yet I’m so on the fence with this team every year. I heard an interesting tid-bit of information that this is the first opening day win since 2003, it’s the most runs they’ve scored on opening day since 2000 and the fewest runs allowed since 1989. Seriously… can we just call it a season now?



GOLF

Yes, I’m white and I enjoy golf! But it’s Masters time fast approaching and don’t know if you knew this but Tigers back. I’m sorry if you like someone else on the tour, so do I but you can’t disclaim anything Tiger has done for the sport. He’s made this an intensely competitive event (not that it wasn’t before, but more so when he’s there) and the Joe Schmo fan doesn’t want to see a Sunday pairing of Trevor Immelman and Geoff Ogilvy. I’m not going to discredit these golfers skill and history but it’s so much better to see Tiger in his Nike Red shirt Sunday afternoon.



FOOTBALL

Burress released and Cutler released. Nothing there got my sports pants all that excited, but I know it gives way to some fun back and forth’s over beers at the bar. Burress getting released was no surprise. I think we’ll all see him dawning the Black and Silver of a Raiders uniform along with Michael Vick. That is if Vick doesn’t end up in the Mark Cuban XFL ver. 2 League like Brown thinks and I don’t exactly disagree. Cutler was just 2009’s Favre quarterback baby temper tantrum. I think Carl Badlander put this one perfectly in that the draft picks were nice. Guess we’ll see if Orton is better with more talented, taller, receivers. I still think they’re targeting Sanchez from USC and are going to package some picks to move up to get him.

No, we’re not taking the week off

We’re just recovering from an awesome Wrestlemania weekend that saw one of the greatest matches in the history of pro wrestling, the invention of a brand new song about Mexican food and the witnessing of Big seemingly go brain dead.

While we’re in recovery, I wanted to point out that Bear did indeed win the Bracket Challenge that we held.  I was second, Big was third, and Dorsey was fourth.

Congratulations you Bear-like sumonagun.  We expect your post in the inbox soon.

One of those great bar debates

Right or Wrong, I'm getting PAID BIAOCH!

Debaters, giggle.

If your anything like me, and seeing as how there is like 4 guys who read this thing, when your out at a bar with some buddys, the conversation hits a lull as your watching some sport on TV, and then somebody throws out a crazy statement like "I think the Duncan, Manu, Parker Spurs could beat the Jordan Bulls in a 7 game series.

Its a simple trick to get talk started and debates flowing.

We had a similar type of talk when Memphis got bounced from the NCAA tourney the other day, as to whether or not their coach, John Calipari, would stay at Memphis, or jump to a "bigger" school in the college basketball landscape.

The augments were simple and pretty much down the middle 50/50. He would stay and continue to build Memphis into an elite program, or he would leave to coach one of already established big boys.

There are pros and cons for both augments.

Pros for staying:

Security: I'm pretty sure once you get Memphis to a final four like he did last year, you have bought yourself at least 5 years, 10 if you continue to make the tourney.

Branding: Duke wasn't a national power till coach K got them going, neither was Florida State, Penn State, or Va Tech in football till Bowden, JoePa, and Beemer got there. How different would we look at Memphis as a basketball power in 10 years if he stayed and won 2 or 3 titles?

Less Pressure: Until you start winning titles, and a bunch of them, in a town like Memphis, your not expected to win ever year, places like UCLA and Kentucky you are.

Pro's for Jumping:

Resume/Ego: Don't let it fool you, 90% of people love their ego stroked. And if you can be "The Guy" who got a traditional powerhouse back to the top, you would be the fucking man there. Think Bob Stoops, Pete Carrol, Jimmy Johnson, Mack Brown.

Recruiting: I had this debate with fellow college football die hard, He said that because of the downfall of Norte Dame football, smaller schools like TCU and UNT could out recruit ND. My only argument was if I walked up to a player and said "we want you to play for ND, and be a part of history," smalls schools don't have a chance.

With that in mind it is almost always easier to recruit to a big power school than a small one. Think of it like this, if Kentucky and Memphis were going after the same player, with all things equal, Kentucky will win 9 out of 10 times.

Money: And the last pro might be the biggest. Because of booster support and fan loyalty, the traditional programs can afford to pay more, and like the Million Dollar man says, Everybody has got a price! (didn't think I would do a long post with out a wrestling tie in, did ya?!)

So there is the pros, there are conns to both as well, such as pressure to preform at the big school, but as we see more and more Rutgers football coach, is the pendulum finally swinging toward staying at your small schools? I don't know, but its a fun bar debate.

Two Things i don't do, unless it involves a buffet

Quick Hits. (get it, I'm a big guy!)

This is such a fun time for sports, yet sometimes I find it hard to focus on any one of them long enough to write a well thought out post about them. So I'm just going to come at you rapid fire and give you my opinions on all this crazy shit.



Totally on board with Brown about twitter, my life isn't nearly entertaining enough to have somebody follow it step by step (ohh baby), but UConn superstar and certain lottery pick in next years NBA draft played on hell of a April Fools joke on every body with the above "tweet." Prue genius my friend.

Speaking of the NCAA, our good friend Victor the Bear looks almost a lock to win the TB&TB Challenge, way to pick all favorites there buddy. Really going out on a limb there chief.

So the Final 4 is set, and I other than UConn, I really don't have any interest in watching these team to be honest. Not because they are bad teams or anything, I just don't like watching Michigan State and there slow, brooding type of basketball, I hate UNC, and I know almost nothing about the small, yet quick Nova team. Good thing I'll be in H-Town this weekend. Ohh did I not tell you we are going Wrestlemania? Well we are. Be Jealous.

Fun Story out of the Land Down underAustralian Pimp Paid Teen Prostitute With Chicken Nuggets. For real, can't make this stuff up. If a girl ever gave me chicken nuggets after sex, I'm pretty sure I would marry her.

Jay Cutler, for real this time, is on the trading block. I really don't know what side to take here, Is Cutler acting like a little 15 year old girl? Yea a little bit. Were the Broncos stupid for trying to trade him for Matt Cassell? You bet. So what happens now? There are a number of teams out there that would love to have Cutler (NYJ, Bucks, Minn, SF, Det), and some of them might even be willing to part with a first round pick for him, but with this "as good as traded" talk, why would they? He's not going to play for Denver next year, so why shoot yourself in the foot to try and get him?

Tiger Woods did his best Tiger Woods impressing last weekend, winning in dramatic fashion on the 18th hold of the Arnold Palmer Golf Shindig. Masters in two weeks. Should be fun. (I'm not a golf guy like Brown)

The Cleveland LeBrons won their 13th straight last night. The Cav's are 3 games better than the Lakers, 5 and half over Boston and Orlando, and a crazy 25 over the closed team in their conference, Detroit. Anybody giving them a chance in the finals vs Dallas? (Kidding, Just seeing if your still paying attention)

One more:

When ever I'm having a bad day, or just not really feeling it, I like to turn over the this site, fmylife.com. I'm sure I'm late to the party with this one, but nothing makes me feel better than reading about other people shitty lives. maybe I should join Twitter.......

Last Chance Bitches!

Last chance to try and prove you know more about college basketball than I do. We have a bracket challenge over at ESPN, link here, or just search for the group name The Big and the Brown.

Winner gets a free post to gloat, tell us how much we suck, what ever. But I'm the defending champ, so if you want to take the strap off me, you better bring the heat.

Time to try and prove your as smrt as me.

I mean smart. Like dirty nasty spiteful smart. What?

ANYWAY, its time for me to put up my championship belt of brackit savyness, and challenge you sexy reader (and brown) in a battle of pick em's. Here is the Big and Brown pick em group on ESPN, or if you need to search, search for the name of the group, the big and the Brown.

Its a battle to the death I tell you! Try and knock me off my horse, Bizzle. Catch me if you can Bear. Suck my Alabama nuts Gerry! I Dersive a Challenge!!!

Are you ready for a Packer-less tourney?

For the first time in my lifetime, I’m going to watch the NCAA tournament without the condescending and sour tones of one, Billy Packer.

A lot of people hate Billy Packer because he was never happy. Remember how pissed he got a mid-majors winning games? I think the world is chock full of happy people. Oprah, Jim Nantz, Terry Bradshaw, Big. Why can’t we have the signature voice of the tournament call it anymore?

The thing is, Billy Packer was very smart about the game of basketball, and isn’t that what we’re really looking for in a color guy? The PBP man tells you what’s happening, and the color guy tells you why it’s happening.

Top of your head, what color guys in college basketball actually do a good job of breaking down the game as it happens? Bilas? Knight? (If you said Vitale, you’re an idiot.)

Anyway, Clark Kellogg is going to be the replacement for Packer now, and all I have to say is, okay. Kellogg is, ironically enough, like corn flakes. He’s just there. He' doesn’t have any flavor, he doesn’t have any taste, he just commentates.

Can’t we promote Gus to the number one spot?

(SIDE NOTE: I’m using Windows Live Writer to post to the blog site now, so if this doesn’t go through properly, it’s Bill Gates' fault)

Its tourney time!

one of the man things I've missed about talking with you fine fine people over the last few weeks is I didn't have a chance to chat up College Basketball. I didn't get a chance to tell you that I think UNC is overrated, or watch for Louisville to make a strong push late, or even that Pitt might be the best team in all the land.

to be fair, I also didn't get a chance to tell you that the Irish would push late to make a bid at the dance, and that Kentucky would win the SEC. So you take the good with the bad.

This is one of the more fun weeks of the sports year, as its the start of the big dance (duhhh). 90% of America don't watch College Basketball till this week, and I've giving that 5 percent of the remaining 10 percent are college kids who go to their schools basketball games. So over the next few days you will be poking around the Internet, looking for some info on how to pick a good bracket. You'll hit up ESPN, but everybody does that so its no fun news. You'll try your fav blogs, looking for help, but what do we know? My mom's basement doesn't even have cable! So you'll do what you normally do, and that's this.

Random Things Dudes do to pick their brackets:

Rule 1. Always pick a 5 seed to get upset, this ALWAYS Happens.
Rule 2. Remember the Darling teams of last year and the year before, they have to be good this year too, right? (George Mason, Gonzaga, the team that curry kid played for)

Rule 3. Do some research, find one low seed that you can learn something about, and then pick them to make the sweet 16, and tell everybody how you saw this coming/how it didn't work. "I thought that if (insert team) could hit some threes, and (insert best player on team) could stay out of foul trouble, they could really do it." even if they lose, you like kinda smart.

Rule 4. Outside of the one team that you picked above, have the rest of the sweet 16 be favorites or just really mild upsets. 5's over 4's and so on. You'll get at least 8 or 9 of the 16 teams that way.

Rule 5. If you don't know anything about the teams, pick the cooler name, so if your right, you can brag. "Fuck yea, I had Xavier in the final 4!"

So there is a little help for you non basketball people, who still enjoy the tourney. Follows those rules and you won't look like a jack ass come April.

Are you guys doing a bracket this year?

I'm sure we are going to do one of those free sign up things on CBS or ESPN.

Big usually handles that, and we're all waiting on him to come back.

Rock Chalk

So, as a fan of sports, I'm sure you watched, or at least read this morning about the NCAA championship last night. Kansas came from down 9 to beat Memphis in OT. Good stuff.

Mario "Super Nintendo" Chalmers won the MOP (unstable), for his gritty play, and more importantly his 3 point shot near the end of regulation that sent the game to overtime.

All ready this morning, most talking heads are talking about how Memphis blew it in the end. They couldn't shoot free throws, they did foul when they should have, yada yada. All in all, these two teams were very well matched, they both liked to run, and in the end, Memphis went cold, while Kansas got hot.

I said all year that Kansas could beat anybody with the style of play that Bill Self roles out there, and the fact that anybody on the roster could go for 20.

As for Memphis, it was a travishshammockery that the refs called a tricky tacky foul on Joey Dorsey late in that game that fouled out the senor. I don't know if they could have pulled it off if he was still in the game, but the fact that he had to sit on the sidelines and watch the end of last game he would ever play in college is wrong.

Derrick Rose is the real deal. The kids 19, and in the biggest game of the year, had 18pts, 6 boards, and 8 assists. I don't know what kind of pro player Chris Douglas Roberts will be, but he showed a lot of guts last nights, even with missing those free throws.

So congrats to Kansas, and to the biggest Kansas fan I know, April, your hawks did it, I'm sure Presley couldn't ask for a greater birthday present.

Breaking down A bracket

My brain is on sports overload right now. It happens every year at this point. NBA is pushing into the strech run, Baseball is about to start, the NFL draft is around the corner, and the NCAA tourney has me watching 12 hours of college basketball for 4 straight days.

Every year I try and get a Bracket pool going for a little bit of money(monolopy of course, becasue gambling is against the law here in Texas.) Sometimes the players are many, and sometimes they are few, but its always a good time. I send out brackets to everybody in the address book vie email, knowing that some people don't even care about sports. I got this bracket back somtime saterday, from my buddy N8 (his name not mine, and he is in his mid 20's not 12.) It looks like this.



Click here for a bigger pic.

Lets just break this down a little bit.

First off, you know he is a Soccer fan, having Manchester win it all.

In a move to make Brown happy, the Indian Cricket Team is better than both The Green Bay Packers, and Fidel Castro, but not the Govenator.

Hitler was a 1 seed that got upset in the sencond round.

Texas(the state I beleive) bested Bradd Pitt, Steve McQueen, and JFK (well, Dallas really bested JFK)

The Univ of North Carolina had a hard road to the final 4, with hard matches against The Dali Lama, Jessica Alba(must be the pregger thing), the State of Tennessee, and Darth Vader.

In what would have to be the most one sided match from the aspect of trailer park support, Dale Ernhardt got past Bin Laden in the round of 16, only to loose to the predator.

Upsets in my mind were as follows.

John Wayne Gacy over the 92 Cowboys.

Gonzaga over Ghandi

and

Tennessee over both Godzilla and King Kong.

Good time waste, good concept. way to go N8(nate), it was gr8(great). TTYL(talk to ya later), you bdb (big douce bag).

Day one,

So the first day of NCAA is done with, another big one today. It was a pretty simple day, only 2 "upsets," and one of them was 9 seed A&M over 8 seed BYU.

In our little bracket thingie over at ESPN, guess who is in last? That's right, its Brown. I can't say much because I'm second to last, I missed USC, Kent, and the upset special Winthrop(bastards, make me look dumb!!!), but out of those I only have USC going to the next round, so its still anybodys game.

teams I liked from yesterday:

UNLV played great and could give Kansas some problems.

Pitt may have the best defense in the nation right now.

Notre Dame can beat anybody if they get hot.

Teams i didn't like yesterday:

Duke has to play better than that. they might be the weekest 2 in the tourney

Xavier scared me yesterday. I have them all the way to the round of 8. That didn't look like a 3 seed yesterday.

Another slate of games today, and much like yesterday I will be poping on and giving some "reports" on whats going down while i'm at work today. Games i am looking forward to seeing:

Western Ky. vs. Drake - Its the classic David vs. well... David.

Davidson vs. Gonzaga - Its the classic David vs. well....David-son(ha!), again (did they do this so we will most def get a smaller school in the second round?)

South Alabama vs. Butler - Do you see the pattern? All of these are the early games, almost saying go fuck yourself mid majors.

Austin Peay vs. (The team that can't be named for fear Brown will kill me for writting about and "jinxing" his alma mater)

UT-Arlington vs. Memphis - Maybe this Mavrick team will play with some heart.

Last Chance

Last chance this morning to try and beat me and Brown in a bracket picking contest.

Go to here over at ESPN, and sign up, when asked for group search The Big and the Brown, make your pics, if your Number One, you get a post on this here interweb.

Good stuff. I will be on later with some team/people to watch today.

Sex me.

300 Jumps the Shark

This is Tom Izzo at, what I believe to be, a pep rally for the tournament...

Let me get this straight, Michigan State decided it was a good idea to dress their basketball team's head coach as King Leonidas from 300.

Wasn't Izzo a respected coach at one time? Honestly, I just don't see Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, Rick Barnes, Billy Gillespie, John Calipari, or any other coach that has an ounce of respect doing stuff like this.

I blame Bruce Pearl.

Need help on your brackets?

Here's your ultimate guide to March Madness:

• Read a few posts on different sites so you know just enough about each team. Just say "I like Psycho-T" after each question about a player and you'll appear to have the basic grasp of things.
• Make a few daring picks like a 15 over a 2. If you're right, you can claim you're a genius. If you're wrong, just say "come on, did you really think I thought Tennessee would get upset? Whatever. "
• Make statements like "George Mason is totally setup to upset Notre Dame because they're a better team, but got a bad seed." People eat this shit up, and you look like you know what you're saying.
• Hate Duke, after all, that's the chic thing to do. Greg Paulus is the new J.J. Redick.
  
• Say "Bruce Pearl is a great coach who obviously cares about his team and his school" and make sure you ignore anyone who brings up the whole Illinois tenure...that didn't count.
  
• Mention to me that Texas set themselves up nicely by falling into the Houston region. Really, I need to know from other people what my team does because I've never paid attention to Texas sports.
  
• Mention to Big that mid-majors have no chance of ever succeeding. Seriously, he loves that shit, and might buy you a beer for your trouble.
• If anyone asks you what you think about teams that were left out of the tournament, just say "the NCAA hates the state of Virginia"....VCU totally deserved a chance to lose in the first round.
• Make sure you share your bracket with everyone. Don't wait for them to ask. It's like fantasy football, everyone is really interested in how your stuff looks and how things are going for you and your bracket.
  
• When Beasley gets "Kevin Durant-ed" out of the first round, be the first to make the comment: "It doesn't matter, he'll still be the first pick in the NBA!"
• Pick a random team, and claim you've followed them all season. Drake! Xavier! Brown's perennial, Gonzaga! St. Joe's! Come on, folks, bandwagons are filling up now!!!
• Look down on anyone when they question why the tournament names an "MOP" and not an "MVP"
• Tell anyone from California that Kevin Love isn't as good as Tyler Hansborough. Watch a live brain aneurysm take place as they argue the East Coast media bias.
  
• If anyone from Baylor speaks up, tell them Dave Bliss called and said "you're welcome"
  

If you really want some insight on what's happening, check out the boys at Thirty Five Seconds. These guys have paid attention to CBB all season, unlike anyone else you know who claim to have done the same thing.

Are they really going to help you pick your bracket? Probably not, but at least you can make some educated guesses.

Have fun on your brackets people. It's Spring Break, so your boss wasn't expecting you to get much work done anyway.

Side note: For those that are wondering why I haven't filled out my bracket in our ESPN challenge, it's because my computer won't load the bracket picker. Rest assured, I've already got it loaded on CBS Sportsline, so my picks are made.