Brackets, Sportsgirl style…

Hey ladies… so the deadline is here, you need to have those NCAA brackets handed out and your money turned in ASAP… what, you haven’t been paying the slightest bit of attention to college hoops?  First of all, its all good even the most dedicated college basketball guys can’t get all of the games right?  Second of all, I’m here to help… keep these few rules in mind and you’re guaranteed success.  And if you weren’t considering joining the office pool…rethink this…it will keep you up to speed in all of the office talk and some of the best social gatherings take places at the bars over the next three weeks as the games are telecasted on a multitude of screens. 

 

Ok, back to my rules…

Rule #1:  If you’ve never heard of the school, you have no business picking them… North Dakota State?  Umm, no… Morehead State?  Who?  Exactly….its not like going shopping at boutique shopes where the up and coming name is a sure pick…  Stick with what you know, and you’ll be successful.  The only schools this year that you may not have heard of…but may want to consider picking in the early rounds are Marquette (a #6 seed), Gonzaga (a #4 seed) and Xavier (another #4 seed). 

Rule #2:  No #1 seed has EVER lost in the first round.  Thats right, EVER!  So unless you are a die-hard, hopeless romantic who always picks the underdog and don’t feel like collecting four free points in the first round, do NOT pick a #16 seed to win a game.

Rule #3:  Google ‘Images’ is your friend.  Why’s this?  Well, that leads me to…

Rule #4:  The better dressed coach is usually victorius… dapper coaches like Louisville’s Rick Pitino and Villanova’s Jay Wright seem to be more adept than others who aren’t quite as stylish.   And if not?  Hey, at least you looked good going down, right?  Now there isn’t technically anything scientific about this rule, however my feeling is…you if the coach looks good, he probably slept well enough not to worry about the success of his team. 

Jay Wright...I say pick him even for the hope you can see him week after week....

Rule #5:  When in doubt, go with the better nickname.  Wildcats?  Strong, confident.  Utes?  What the hell is that?  Stay with what you know.

Rule #6:  Team colors are your friend.  No girl would ever choose something with bad style… Carolina blue is an absolute classic.  Siena’s Green and Gold…?  Ehh, not so much (and I love the color green…just not with gold…unless its a big emerald rock with a gold band).

Keep these rules in mind and you’re bound to be successful in your tournament pool.  And remember, no matter what happens, enjoy the next three weeks, they are the absolute best time of the year for sports, there’s nothing like it.  And when its over, you can reward yourself at the mall!  Good luck ladies, enjoy the games!

-sportsgirl

A Little Early “Onions!”

So ladies, the Madness has officially started with Sunday night’s unveiling of the 65 team field for this year’s NCAA Tournament.  What does that mean for us?  A few things, a few verrry important things:  First, it means that you have a choice… for the next three weekends you can either get angry at your significant other for NEVER taking his attention away from the tournament, or you can embrace it and learn to love one of the best events of the year.  Personally, I choose to embrace it, mainly because of the possibility for shopping.  Thats right, I said shopping… that “just for fun” NCAA Tournament pool in your office?  All of those $10 or $20 entry fees add up quickly, if you have been paying attention like I’ve been telling you too throughout the season now is the time to turn that knowledge into some serious cash, which will translate to serious shopping (OK, I know we’re in a recession, so maybe you’ll do some serious saving instead, but hey, its still free money!) 

Whats that you say?  You haven’t been following the teams closely enough over the past few months?  Have no fear, sportsgirl is here to guide you to bracket success… full guide to come tomorrow, but for now here are a few interesting tidbits to get you started:

• Three of the four #1 seeds are from the Big East conference (Pitt, Louisville, and UConn).  The only #1 from another conference is North Carolina… But, did you know that if all three of those Big East teams made it to the Final Four it wouldn’t be the first time that three teams from the conference made it to the Final Four in the same year?  Thats right, in 1985 Georgetown, Villanova, and St. John’s were in the Final Four along with Memphis, and Villanova eventually won the championship over Georgetown (as a #8 seed!)
• Everyone who tells you that “Cinderella” rules the dance couldn’t be more wrong.  In fact, Cinderella routinely gets her glass slipper trounced on by the big, bad power teams… in fact, last year all four of the #1 seeds made it to the Final Four.  The defending champ (Kansas) and defending runner-up (Memphis) both have pretty high seeds this year, and it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see either of them in the Final Four again.
• Starting on Thursday at noon, the best 4 days in sports begin:  48 games will be played between then and early Sunday evening, filtering the field down to the Sweet 16 headed into next weekend.  There’s never a shortage of buzzer beaters, great finishes, unlikely heroes, and “ONIONS!”.  Not picking up the “ONIONS!” reference?  Apparently you wouldn’t get along with my husband… its one of his favorite college basketball announcer’s (Bill Raftery’s) catch phrases, and its a classic.  Check out the video below (at 0:08 and then again at 0:39), maybe you’ll fall in love too…  “Billy Raf” will be calling games over the next two weekends, and he makes everything more entertaining.

So, like I said I’ll be back tomorrow with some more tournament advice, and maybe a few other exciting tournament video links to get you excited… this really is the best event in sports, make sure you enjoy the next three weeks.  Talk to you tomorrow!

-sportsgirl

The “Instant Classic”

Hey ladies.  I think most of us feel that the first weekend of the NCAA tournament (next weekend) is probably the best sports weekend of the year… yes, there are a few other contenders (Final 4/Baseball Opening Day weekend, Nordstroms Half-Yearly Sale, etc), but Im going to add an unexpected wrinkle to the mix.  This weekend, which is home to most of the major college basketball conference tournaments, might top them all.  Teams are playing to stay alive and achieve their dream of making it to the Dance, bubbles are bursting and millions of fans are treated to the occasional “Instant Classic”.  Thursday night’s BigEast quarterfinal between Syracuse and Connecticut was a prime example of why so many of us love college basketball.

Syracuse 127, Connecticut 117… seems like just a rare high scoring Big East game until you see the rest of the summary:  6 OT’s.  Yes, that’s correct, it took 6 overtimes to come up with a winner in this one, and each one got better than the last.  Both teams are comfortably in the NCAA Tournament, however each squad played with a determination that would make you think they wouldn’t be allowed to come home without a win.  Numerous players fouled out, and Syracuse ended up with a walk-on player having a significant role in the 5th and 6th overtime periods.  Do you realize how long 6 overtimes is?  They basically played three 20 minute halves plus another 10 minutes!  Almost two entire games.  The game ended after 1:20 AM Eastern time, and there weren’t many empty seats in Madison Square Garden at the time, everyone stayed, knowing they were watching something special.  The moral of the story?  Next time you’re stuck watching a game that you’re not really into, pay a little bit of extra attention, it could end up becoming the next “Instant Classic”… you just never know, and thats what makes sports so great.

In other news bubble teams are keeping a close eye on tournaments such as the Atlantic 10, the Big 12 and Conference USA.  Why? Each of these tournaments have at least one surprise team in the finals (a team that would otherwise not be selected for the NCAA tournament).  If one of these teams wins their tournament and the resulting automatic bid it will take away a spot for a bubble team..for example if Memphis (a lock for the tournament) loses the Conference USA championship they will have to take one of the “at large” positions that would have otherwise gone to a bubble teams…leaving a bubble team (like Virginia Tech) out of the tournament.  

Here are a few of the key games for you to see on Saturday…

The A10 Championship Game (Temple vs. Duquense)…both of these teams are in Pennsylvania…neither were predicted to make it to the NCAA tournament…but now one of them will prevent one of those bubble teams to make it (could it be PennState…after their loss to Purdue on Friday night who knows?)

The Big East Championship – Louisville will try to win their first Big East tournament against either Syracuse or West Virginia

The Big 12 Championship  - Upstart Baylor (ladies…my husband tells me that upstart means that Baylor is a surprise) tries to complete a comeback from numerous scandals like murder (dead serious…one player murdered another player a few years ago….)

Pac 10 Championship – The LA fan base will have to decide their rooting interest between whichever hometown school makes it (USC or UCLA) and Arizona State, which has several LA area starters….

So, as you can see…there is drama in the world of sports…I promise, even I can tolerate game after game….Enjoy the rest of conference championship weekend, keep studying, the brackets will come out on Sunday at 6 PM Eastern!

-sportsgirl

“The Bubble”: Shopping Style

Hey ladies… so, we’ve entered the last regular season weekend of college basketball, and in fact some of the leagues around the country have already started their conference tournaments.  What does this mean?  Well, it means a couple of things… first of all, the calendar has turned to March, which means the month of the madness is upon us, and the next few weeks are some of the most exciting weeks of the sports year…I have to admit…as bored as I’ve been with sports all winter…I even get excited…maybe that’s because when the brackets come out money is involved…and I like a good competition….but who knows…it could be the start of warm weather.  I digress…the  second thing it means is that over the next week you’ll be hearing a lot about this concept called “the bubble”, which I thought I’d explain to you a little bit today.

A college basketball team that is “on the bubble” is one that is right on the edge of whether they will get selected as one of the 65 teams to play in the NCAA Tournament (the Big Dance).  Here’s how the tournament selection works:  there are 31 automatic bids that teams get from winning their conference tournaments (or regular season title, in the case of the Ivy League:  Cornell is already in).  That leaves 34 “at-large” bids that the Selection Committee can give out… that seems like a lot, but you have to remember that there are a lot of teams that are “locks” to get in who don’t win their conference tournaments, so they take up a good deal of those 34 spots… the teams that are right on the edge of getting one of those spots are known as “bubble” teams….a few examples to impress people with are University of Minnesota, University of Cincinnati, University if Kentucky…just a few. 

Think about it this way ladies:  you have $300 to go shopping with, and you know that you need a new pair of jeans, maybe a top or two for a coming occasion, and these things together will cost you about $225 (I am assuming there is a jeans sale).  So you have $75 left, but there are 3 pairs of earrings that you want, a cute sun dress, and maybe a great pair of shoes… total cost?  $175.  So you can’t buy all of them, only one or two of them will make it into your shopping bag.  The items that you’re considering are “on the bubble”… got it?  Good.  Enjoy the big college hoops weekend, start getting yourselves familiar with the teams and players so you can impress as March Madness kicks off soon, you don’t want to be coming in last place in that office pool!  

Talk to you soon.

-sportsgirl

PS..with March Madness in front of us…expect a lot more from me!!!

I Bet Even Guys Don’t Know What “AFT” Means…

Well ladies… despite the unfavorable outcome from my perspective, after a very exciting finish to the Super Bowl we have finally reached the first weekend of AFT (After Football Time).  OK, well technically the ProBowl is this weekend, but according to my husband, this really doesn’t matter or mean anything….I know, I know, you can stop cheering now.  Just because football is over doesn’t mean that there aren’t any “great” sporting events to watch on TV this weekend… and even if you’re not interested, at least you can make your significant other happy by recommending them to him and then sneaking out to the mall after he dozes off on the sofa!  Here’s a quick look at a couple of events on tap for the weekend:

• The PGA Tour is holding what is usually its first ‘big-name tournament’ (aka Tiger participates) of the year, at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA.  Well, Tiger isn’t back from his knee surgery yet… this week he said that he is close to returning but he’s waiting until after his second child is born, which should be very soon.  So, in the absence of Tiger you still get Phil Mickelson and the incredible views of La Jolla and the Pacific Ocean in HD.  Hey, if its freezing where you live, at least watching golf will help you feel warm!
• Two good non-conference college basketball games on Saturday to go along with the usual strong Saturday slate of conference games.  First, #1 UConn is hosting Michigan at 6:00 PM (ESPN), and then later on Sunday Memphis is traveling out west to take on Gonzaga.  Two good matchups among teams that don’t get together too often (or, so I’ve heard).

Lets be honest here… hopefully you are able to get away from watching sports this weekend, especially since most of you have been stuck watching football every single weekend since September.  If not, keep in mind the couple of ideas I gave you above, and enjoy the weekend! 

-sportsgirl

Why the nostalgia?

So ladies, Wednesday night marks another milestone in the history of Philadelphia sports.  Or so I’m told.  Villanova is hosting Pitt on Wednesday night, in what will be the last ever college basketball game at Philadelphia’s legendary Spectrum.  The old arena, which opened in 1967, will be demolished next year to make way for a new entertainment complex and hotel.  But, here’s what I don’t get… who cares? 

When they knock down an old Nordstrom’s to build a brand new one with nice lighting, plush carpeting, and luxurious wood paneling, do you hear me reminiscing about all the good times I had in the old one?  Didn’t think so…I mean, a more modern shopping experience, what girl wouldn’t want it?   Guys are just strange with these things… most of them wouldn’t cry at an emotional family wedding or a movie like Steel Magnolias, yet put them in the Spectrum on a Wednesday night in January and there will be onions everywhere.

Doesn't look like anything special, right?

Anyway, while you’re watching #21 Villanova and #3 Pitt battle it out tomorrow night, you can impress the guy in your life with your formidable knowledge of Spectrum college basketball history.  Here’s a couple of tidbits for you:

-  The Spectrum hosted what many people consider the greatest college basketball game ever played:  Duke 104, Kentucky 103, in the 1992 NCAA Tournament East Regional Final…  remember when Christian Laettner was every girls dream?  Remember when he caught that incredible full court inbounds pass from Thomas Hill, then spun at the free throw line to hit the jumper with no time left on the clock?  OK…I don’t remember this at all, but my husband told me all about it and some of you may remember…nice name though…That was at the Spectrum.

-  Two Final Fours were played at the Spectrum, and get this… both of them were won by the same team!  Indiana won the NCAA Tournament at the Spectrum in both 1976 and 1981, under coach Bobby Knight.  I’m pretty sure he is a tough coach…that is something that would make ME cry (LOL).

Philadelphia is a city that loves its college basketball, and although it won’t be the last event in the old building, it will be a sad day for many who hate that it was ever replaced by the Wachovia Center (I guess the soon to be Wells Fargo Center???)  across the parking lot.  A lot of history in the building I guess, but this girl still doesn’t get the nostalgia…I mean I did see the Harlem Globetrotters there and a few Disney on Ice type events as a kid, but just not getting it….give me the nice new Nordstrom’s (marble flooring, 360 degree mirrors and automatic papertowel dispensers)!  Look out for a lot more Spectrum info when the Sixers play their last game there in March, use your fun facts wisely!

-sportsgirl

A real underdog story…

So ladies, I’ve been telling you for a while that I’m going to start writing about some college basketball.  Most of you are probably thinking North Carolina, Duke, UConn, maybe UCLA?  How about NJIT?  Who?  NJIT?  Thats right.  I must admit that when I heard this news story earlier this week, I had absolutely no idea what NJIT was, in fact I had to go look it up ( I thought it had something to do with the NJ transit system…sort of).  NJIT is New Jersey Institute of Technology, located in Newark NJ, and one of the newest entrants to the world of Division I-A college basketball.  Since you’ve never heard of them, and now knowing that they are one of the newest teams at the highest level of competition, you probably have some idea where this is going.  

Up until this week, NJIT had lost 51 straight basketball games.  Their last win was all the way back on February 19, 2007, until they defeated Bryant College this past Wednesday night.  From reading these news stories and seeing the clips online, you would think they had just reached the Final Four from the way that they celebrated…craziness.  Personally, this girl is wondering whats the benefit of being in Division I-A if you’re going to lose all the time?  The only press you’re going to receive is pure ridicule, and your players can’t be in a great mood (but hey, at least they’re getting a scholarship and they’re only a 15 minute train ride from Manhattan… shopping ladies, shopping).  They should have just stayed down in the “minor” leagues, but now every school thinks they can be the next Gonzaga.  If you are wondering who Gonzaga is, well there this small school in Spokane, WA and they make it to the March Madness of the Final 64 teams every once and awhile and most recently they made it to the elite 8…so, as I am saying…these small schools are trying to go Gonzaga-style…Oh well.

On a more serious note, and in keeping with the ‘female’ theme of this blog, the longtime head women’s basketball coach at NC State, Kay Yow, passed away this morning after a long battle with breast cancer.  She originally got into coaching just so she could secure a job as a high school teacher, she knew nothing about basketball and took the women’s coaching job at the school and ended up learning from the men’s coach during their practices.  Pretty impressive that she made it as far as she did, she is a legendary coach in women’s college basketball, and the basketball world will definitely miss her…. hey, I don’t know much about basketball, maybe I’ll be the head coach at UConn someday.  Well, maybe not….let’s be serious….I would have absolutely no interest in the job…but good for her.  Get your pink ribbons out ladies and show some respect…she is in the Hall of Fame for a women’s basketball coach and won more than 700 games as the coach at NC State…pretty impressive.  

 

Nike even created baksetball sneakers in honor of Kay Yow

 

 

Alright, well I didn’t mean to end on a low note…I am going for a glass of vino now…and remember that anything is possible…look at Kay Yow’s success and NJIT!  Have a fantastic rest of the weekend and I will be back…

-sportsgirl

January Madness

Hey ladies… now that college football season is over and there are only a few NFL playoff games left, I figured I’d give you a quick post on some of the big college basketball games that are coming up on Saturday.  The guys in your life will probably be tuned in to these battles, so maybe having some good info to chat about will help you fit right in to those conversations about different teams that may end up “on the bubble” when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.  Why January madness, you ask?  Well, the tournament is only two months away, and there are some great matchups on Saturday that could help sort out who some of the better teams in the country are.  Here’s some info for you:

#10 Clemson at #2 Wake Forest (3:30 EST, ABC)

-  This is a matchup of two of the last three unbeaten teams in the country.  A classic ACC battle, college basketball is always big on Tobacco Row in North Carolina, and this game should have a raucus crowd.

-  Wake Forest is in its second year under coach Dino Gaudio, a longtime assistant who replaced the legendary Skip Prosser when Prosser died of a heart attack two summers ago after going for a jog.  Its a pretty heartwarming story, and the team is constantly bringing up reminders or Prosser’s legacy and keeping his memory alive.  This is the kind of stuff that makes me watch sports…tears ladies, tears….

#13  Georgetown at #3 Duke (1:30PM CBS)

-  Duke has a 67 game non-conference home winning streak, and they will be putting that on the line Saturday against the Hoyas in front of the Cameron Crazies (aka Duke fans…who knew…apparently the Duke stadium is called Cameron Indoor Stadium).  Have you seen the environment for  a game at Duke?  Apparently its one of those things that every sports fan needs to experience in their lives… personally I’d rather experience a great sale at Nordstrom, but unfortunately they are only semi-annually…

#16 Arizona State at #9 UCLA (3:45 PM)

-  The Pacific Ten conference, which both of these teams are members of, is apparently having  a “down year”.  The Pac-10 has an interesting scheduling system for basketball:  there are 10 teams in the conference, made up of 5 logical pairs of 2 (UCLA and USC, Arizona State and Arizona, Washington State and Washington, Oregon and Oregon State, Stanford and Cal).  Each weekend during the conference season these pairs rotate to play every other team twice, with games being held on Thursday through Sunday.  For example, this weekend Arizona State played at USC on Thursday night, while Arizona played at UCLA.  On the weekend they switch, so Arizona State is playing at UCLA in the big matchup on Saturday, while Arizona plays at USC.  Impress your friends with that knowledge!

So those are a few tidbits for the big day of college basketball, I’ll be back tomorrow with some interesting info for the NFL conference championship games, but until then enjoy the long weekend!

-sportsgirl

That Guy in Whom You Have Little Interest? Show Him the Heisman…

Hey ladies.. so in my post the other day I was discussing the Villanova-St. Joe’s rivalry and how Villanova has made it to the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ in three out of the past four years.  I had heard that they were one of only six teams ever to do this, which I found a little hard to believe, so I decided to check it out, and here’s what I found:

The NCAA Tournament expanded to its current 64 (or 65) team format in 1985, some Sweet Sixteen facts:

• There have been 384 Sweet Sixteen teams (24 seasons, 16 teams make it per season)
• 16 different schools have accomplished the 3 Sweet Sixteens in 4 seasons:  Villanova, North Carolina, Arizona, Kansas, West Virginia, UCLA, Duke, Arkansas, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, UNLV, Indiana, Syracuse, Kentucky, Alabama, and Connecticut… pretty much a who’s who of college basketball
• The sixteen schools I named have accounted for 138 of the 384 Sweet Sixteen appearances, that’s 36%, which is amazing considering that they are less than 5% of the schools in Division 1 basketball
• The longest consecutive Sweet 16 streak belongs to North Carolina, who made it for 9 straight seasons from 1985-1993

For those of you who know me personally…it is now obvious that my husband has helped me research this information…he loves numbers and percentages….but guaranteed…not many people you are around will know those kinds of stats. …

So, I obviously need to apologize for my misleading trivia question, but take some of these facts with you as you’re watching TV on Saturday… its the first Saturday since August without college football, so college basketball is taking over the airwaves on Saturdays now (can’t you tell how excited I am?)

 

The Heisman Trophy:

The college football regular season is over, but there is still some hardware to be handed out:  The Heisman Trophy will be awarded in NYC Saturday night, and the three finalists are all quarterbacks:  Tim Tebow (Florida), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), and Colt McCoy (Texas).  The ceremony itself is pretty boring, its probably more entertaining to go out and watch girls at the bar give guys “the Heisman”… if you don’t know what I mean, take a look at the pose that the player on the trophy is in.  Either way, there may be some entertaining pictures on the Internet Sunday morning… a few years ago when Matt Leinart won the Heisman he made the papers with some rather drunken pictures taken at Marquee later on.

Also a common pose for the ladies at the bars...

See, the Heisman can get a little bit more interesting than just the boring ceremony with a bunch of old guys in blue blazers (just Google “Matt Leinart” + “Marquee” and let the viewing begin)… So keep your eyes peeled for some juicy photos, which I’ll be sure to fill you in on, and keep an eye out for another post tomorrow, when I’ll discuss everything you need to know for another NFL Sunday (isn’t THAT over yet either?  It’s endless!)

Now go get your holiday shopping done…you don’t want to wait until the last minute do you????  Until then….

-sportsgirl

Holy War? Am I in high school history?

Hey ladies… well, I’m going to catch up via a quick post tonight on a topic that I’ve largely ignored to this point:  college basketball.  As you’ve probably figured before, I live in the Philadelphia area, which is a great sports town.  One of the best reasons that Philadelphia is a great sports town is Big 5 college basketball… the Big 5 is made up of LaSalle, Penn, St. Joseph’s, Temple, and Villanova.  Yes, they’re all in different conferences (well, 3 different conferences), but they make up the unofficial Big 5.  The Big 5 is a huge tradition in Philadelphia, every year there is a round robin played among the five teams to determine a city champion.  Why did I pick today to write about this?  Well, Thursday night is the annual playing of perhaps the most heated Big 5 rivalry:  St. Joseph’s at Villanova.

Thursday's game will be played at the Pavilion (top...not the footbal field), known in Philadelphia as "the ski lodge"

In Philadelphia, this game is known as the Holy War.  Now, I’ve learned that other parts of the country have other games that are referred to by this name (BYU and Utah in college football, for example), but in Philadelphia this one takes the cake.  Here’s a few fun facts that you can impress your friends with while you watch the game, at 8:00 EST on ESPN (unless, of course, you’re lucky enough to be in the Pavilion):

• The rivalry began in 1921, and Villanova leads the all time series 41-25. 
• Each team has a fairly solid history in college basketball despite being relatively small schools without Division I-A football programs:  they have been to a combined 23 Sweet Sixteens (Villanova accounting for 16 of those), and Villanova won the National Championship in 1985.
• Although Villanova has made it to the Sweet Sixteen in three out of the past four years (fun fact:  they are one of only six schools in the country to ever accomplish this, can you name the other five? I am still researching…so I will get back to you with the actual fact), the Hawks have accounted for the best National Championship chance, when in 2004 they went undefeated in the regular season and lost to Oklahoma State in the Elite Eight.

So, I know its not quite March Madness yet (although it is Mall Madness for the holiday season, but thats another story), but you should give this rivalry a shot on ESPN tomorrow night, if nothing else I can guarantee that the fans will be passionate and you can see if you can try to catch the St. Joe’s mascot…the Hawk not flapping his wings…it won’t happen.  I’ll be back tomorrow with some more football info (ugh), but until then..just remember…”The Hawk Will Never Die…”  

-sportsgirl