I am currently in the process of writing two new posts, one regarding the Imus event and the other a recap of the Los Angeles Kings season. Unfortunately (while, at least for you, my readers), my free time over the last few weeks had been consumed by me planning a weekend trip to Monterey so I could propose to my Better Half (she said yes, of course...never any doubt...had to make an honest woman out of her eventually). While the writing of those posts may be slow moving, I do not want to leave you, my loyal readers, high-and-dry with nothing to enjoy. Thankfully, Will Ferrell was born.
I am a huge Ferrell fan. I know many of my family members will be shocked to hear that I have yet to see Blades of Glory (see, supra, planning engagement weekend excuse), but I plan to remedy that this weekend. I did, however, get to see Ferrell drop Meredith Vieira, host of NBC's Today, on her head while promoting the movie (you too can see it here). When I just think of all his great performances on the big screen (Zoolander, Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Stranger Than Fiction), I can not help but laugh. His cameo in Wedding Crashers remains one of the most underrated performances in cinema history. I probably quote Will Ferrell, either from a movie or his run on Saturday Night Live, at least ten times a day.
So, since laughter makes everyday a little a brighter (wow, cheesiest line ever written on GameTime, TBD©), I thought I would pass along the following film short that Ferrell produced. I now present to you, "The Landlord." Enjoy!
[UPDATE: The embedded video was causing problems with the blog. I apologize for having to remove it. So, here's a link for you to follow if you would still like to watch it: The Landlord.]
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
And Poof...Just Like That, It's Gone
While Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year, the first week of April is one of the worst times of the year. March Madness has once again come to an end and that means, besides Florida having won the national championship again (ugh), I am forced to work full weeks again (seriously, I think I've forgotten how to work a five day week....someone please help, I'm scared). It also marks, what I believe to be, the low point for sports every year. College sports are essentially done for the year, football is still five months away, basketball and hockey are in playoff mode, and baseball is left as the only sport to watch on television (and it's hard to watch baseball on television...and there's 162 games in a season, who wants to watch that many games?).
Making matters worse, as I look back on this year's tournament, there is a feeling of emptiness left behind. In fact, the happenings in college basketball post-tournament have been more enjoyable than the tournament was. Admittedly, I am biased by the bitter after taste I have in my mouth from the egg that UCLA laid in its second straight drubbing at the hands of Florida. But when you look back, was not the entire Final Four and Championship one big egg? What was touted by most experts as the best Final Four in years turned into three uninspired victories by teams I do not particularly care about (although Florida's victory did give Joakim Noah the chance to, once again, show the entire world just how retarded he is...thank you Joakim, your ability to confuse everyone will be missed next year). The tournament also lacked the usual "Cinderella" team that no one in the nation has heard about but wants to rout for. If you picked a bracket based on the favorites, you would have done fairly well in your pool, unlike previous years (if you're going through bracket withdraw, like I am, the boys over at Seattle's AM 950, KJR Sports Radio, have what you need...it's called "The Bigger Dance," and the winner gets two tickets to any sporting event in the world....Marisa Miller over Kate Beckinsale in the final...remember, you heard it first at GameTime, TBD©). Sure, I had a really great time traveling around with my friends and family to watch some of the games live, but I was never drawn to the television to watch other games. I only watched about twenty minutes of the national championship game, and that was because it was on at the gym while I ran on a treadmill.
On the other hand, look at what has happened since the tournament ended. Tubby Smith left all the racists in Kentucky for a more comfortable position at Minnesota. Everyone assumed that Billy Donovan would be leaving Florida after the tournament for the Kentucky job. But that did not happen. Donovan decided to stay, choosing a life of mediocrity for the next ten years (come on Billy, I thought you were smarter than that). Texas' Rick Barnes withdrew his name from consideration before Kentucky could even come knocking, which forced Kentucky to go with its obvious third choice, Mark Few from Gonzaga. This is a brilliant choice by Kentucky. What Few has done at Gonzaga with the minimal talent available to him is impressive. I, for one, can not wait to see what he does with the talent he can get at Ken...wait, what is that you say? Kentucky did not go with Mark Few? Then who?
Well, much to the chagrin of this Aggies fan, Kentucky went with Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie. I was pretty surprised myself to see Gillispie go, considering he turned down a substantial raise from Arkansas to stay at A&M. And I am sure the disgruntled Aggies fan was extra excited to hear that Texas A&M had chosen Wichita State's Mark Turgeon to replace Gillispie. Then there is John Beilein, who left West Virginia for the vacant Michigan position after Tommy Amaker was fired. Beilein has been replaced at West Virginia by Bob Huggins, who accepted the position before the phone even finished ringing (there is no bigger Bob Huggins than my Mom....we're talking HUGE fan...ginormous...so big a fan, she's buying the Big East package from her cable provider...so big a fan, she built a Bob Huggins voodoo doll and instantly decapitated it). Both Beilein and Huggins have to pay their previous schools money for breaking their contracts. While Huggins gets saddled with a $100,000 expense for taking the job, Beilein has to pay $2.5 million back to West Virginia. All this, and the NCAA Tournament has only been done for eight days.
Wait, there is more? While some schools are losing coaches left and right, others are losing players as underclassmen declare for the NBA draft. Although the deadline to declare is not until April 29th, a slew of underclassmen have already declared. Most notably, the four Florida juniors I love to hate (Noah, Horford, Brewer, and Green) have declared, Kevin Durant declared, as did Glen "Big Baby" Davis from LSU, Spencer Hawes from Washington, Julian Wright from Kansas, and Josh McRoberts from Duke to name a few.
And then there is Aaron Afflalo. It had been a rollercoaster ride for AA since the end of the Pac 10 season, when he failed to show up for the last few UCLA games. Not what you want from your supposed team leader heading into the NCAA Tournament. Many believed he had played himself out of the first round of the NBA draft and back to UCLA for his senior season. Then AA led UCLA to an impressive victory over Kansas (not all to surprising that UCLA was overlooked by most experts once again), and many felt he had done enough to get back to the first round. But that was before UCLA played Florida in the Final Four (I just threw up a little in my mouth). As has become the norm with AA, he failed to show up for the big game. Sure he finished with seventeen points, but his first basket did not come until there was 6:13 left in the game (you read that right). He spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble. After watching that performance, many UCLA fans (myself included) were excited...Aaron Afflalo had played his way back out of the first round, would return for his senior year, UCLA would be returning its entire line-up, and adding the top-rated recruit in the nation. Third straight final four? Here we....oh wait, Aaron Afflalo declared for the NBA draft and will be going pro. Oh well, at least Kevin Love is still coming to town.
So, that of course, leaves UCLA with the following (likely) starting line-up for next season: Collison at point; Westbrook as the shooting guard (maybe Roll); Shipp at the three spot; big Kevin Love at four (I know what you're thinking, he should play the five spot...mark my words, he will dominate out of the power forward position...his outlets are Walton-esque); and your choice of Mata, Mbah a Moute, Aboya, and Keefe at five. Hey, this might now be so bad after all. I would think UCLA could be the team to beat next year. CBS seems to agree with me while ESPN continues to undervalue the ability of Ben Howland and the new UCLA dynasty. They should learn from Calipari, Sampson, and Self.
But that is neither here nor there because right now, I have got to figure out how to survive until next August. Any suggestions?
Making matters worse, as I look back on this year's tournament, there is a feeling of emptiness left behind. In fact, the happenings in college basketball post-tournament have been more enjoyable than the tournament was. Admittedly, I am biased by the bitter after taste I have in my mouth from the egg that UCLA laid in its second straight drubbing at the hands of Florida. But when you look back, was not the entire Final Four and Championship one big egg? What was touted by most experts as the best Final Four in years turned into three uninspired victories by teams I do not particularly care about (although Florida's victory did give Joakim Noah the chance to, once again, show the entire world just how retarded he is...thank you Joakim, your ability to confuse everyone will be missed next year). The tournament also lacked the usual "Cinderella" team that no one in the nation has heard about but wants to rout for. If you picked a bracket based on the favorites, you would have done fairly well in your pool, unlike previous years (if you're going through bracket withdraw, like I am, the boys over at Seattle's AM 950, KJR Sports Radio, have what you need...it's called "The Bigger Dance," and the winner gets two tickets to any sporting event in the world....Marisa Miller over Kate Beckinsale in the final...remember, you heard it first at GameTime, TBD©). Sure, I had a really great time traveling around with my friends and family to watch some of the games live, but I was never drawn to the television to watch other games. I only watched about twenty minutes of the national championship game, and that was because it was on at the gym while I ran on a treadmill.
On the other hand, look at what has happened since the tournament ended. Tubby Smith left all the racists in Kentucky for a more comfortable position at Minnesota. Everyone assumed that Billy Donovan would be leaving Florida after the tournament for the Kentucky job. But that did not happen. Donovan decided to stay, choosing a life of mediocrity for the next ten years (come on Billy, I thought you were smarter than that). Texas' Rick Barnes withdrew his name from consideration before Kentucky could even come knocking, which forced Kentucky to go with its obvious third choice, Mark Few from Gonzaga. This is a brilliant choice by Kentucky. What Few has done at Gonzaga with the minimal talent available to him is impressive. I, for one, can not wait to see what he does with the talent he can get at Ken...wait, what is that you say? Kentucky did not go with Mark Few? Then who?
Well, much to the chagrin of this Aggies fan, Kentucky went with Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie. I was pretty surprised myself to see Gillispie go, considering he turned down a substantial raise from Arkansas to stay at A&M. And I am sure the disgruntled Aggies fan was extra excited to hear that Texas A&M had chosen Wichita State's Mark Turgeon to replace Gillispie. Then there is John Beilein, who left West Virginia for the vacant Michigan position after Tommy Amaker was fired. Beilein has been replaced at West Virginia by Bob Huggins, who accepted the position before the phone even finished ringing (there is no bigger Bob Huggins than my Mom....we're talking HUGE fan...ginormous...so big a fan, she's buying the Big East package from her cable provider...so big a fan, she built a Bob Huggins voodoo doll and instantly decapitated it). Both Beilein and Huggins have to pay their previous schools money for breaking their contracts. While Huggins gets saddled with a $100,000 expense for taking the job, Beilein has to pay $2.5 million back to West Virginia. All this, and the NCAA Tournament has only been done for eight days.
Wait, there is more? While some schools are losing coaches left and right, others are losing players as underclassmen declare for the NBA draft. Although the deadline to declare is not until April 29th, a slew of underclassmen have already declared. Most notably, the four Florida juniors I love to hate (Noah, Horford, Brewer, and Green) have declared, Kevin Durant declared, as did Glen "Big Baby" Davis from LSU, Spencer Hawes from Washington, Julian Wright from Kansas, and Josh McRoberts from Duke to name a few.
And then there is Aaron Afflalo. It had been a rollercoaster ride for AA since the end of the Pac 10 season, when he failed to show up for the last few UCLA games. Not what you want from your supposed team leader heading into the NCAA Tournament. Many believed he had played himself out of the first round of the NBA draft and back to UCLA for his senior season. Then AA led UCLA to an impressive victory over Kansas (not all to surprising that UCLA was overlooked by most experts once again), and many felt he had done enough to get back to the first round. But that was before UCLA played Florida in the Final Four (I just threw up a little in my mouth). As has become the norm with AA, he failed to show up for the big game. Sure he finished with seventeen points, but his first basket did not come until there was 6:13 left in the game (you read that right). He spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble. After watching that performance, many UCLA fans (myself included) were excited...Aaron Afflalo had played his way back out of the first round, would return for his senior year, UCLA would be returning its entire line-up, and adding the top-rated recruit in the nation. Third straight final four? Here we....oh wait, Aaron Afflalo declared for the NBA draft and will be going pro. Oh well, at least Kevin Love is still coming to town.
So, that of course, leaves UCLA with the following (likely) starting line-up for next season: Collison at point; Westbrook as the shooting guard (maybe Roll); Shipp at the three spot; big Kevin Love at four (I know what you're thinking, he should play the five spot...mark my words, he will dominate out of the power forward position...his outlets are Walton-esque); and your choice of Mata, Mbah a Moute, Aboya, and Keefe at five. Hey, this might now be so bad after all. I would think UCLA could be the team to beat next year. CBS seems to agree with me while ESPN continues to undervalue the ability of Ben Howland and the new UCLA dynasty. They should learn from Calipari, Sampson, and Self.
But that is neither here nor there because right now, I have got to figure out how to survive until next August. Any suggestions?
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