How about those games yesterday, eh? They should call it March Madness.
But while I love to see the underdogs bark, I'm still laughing about D'Angelo Russell crippling a man (and the bench's reaction) on national television last night:
Yeah, yeah, I know. HE MISSED THE DANG SHOT. (I guess that ruins it for the chilled people.)
This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:
- WrestleMania15: The Rock vs. Stone Cold (full match).
- Clay Davis for Congress.
- 100 Top Quotes from The Wire (Part II).
VCU GETS DUMPED. Ohio State played VCU last night, and it was a bad night for the Rams. What did we learn? Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell is the real McCoy.
From Tim Shoemaker's dispatch:
PORTLAND, Ore. — D’Angelo Russell sat down at the podium for his post-game press conference with a bandage over his left eye looking like he had just went 12 rounds with the heavyweight champion of the world.
Russell was bloodied during Ohio State’s second-round NCAA tournament game Thursday against VCU when he caught an elbow to the head from the Rams’ Doug Brooks. He was grabbed and held on nearly every screen. Most of the game VCU had two, sometimes three defenders on the Buckeyes’ star freshman guard.
If the Rams’ goal was to rough up Russell, they certainly succeeded. But if they thought for one second that might take him off of his game, they were dead wrong.
Because when the final horn sounded and 28 points to his name, Russell and Ohio State were celebrating at midcourt after a hard-fought, physical 75-72 overtime win.
That was one of of Patient 0's best performances of the year. You could say it was sick. I respect VCU going with the "rough up 0" tactic, but I respect Russell even more for fighting through it.
Oh, Russell also did this:
Here's Ohio State's top 10 freshman scoring campaigns with a new king at top. #numberofdabeast http://t.co/8De9T7xI14 pic.twitter.com/2JJZt6NPLa
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) March 20, 2015
(Yes, Mike Conley's 441 should be on there.)
ARIZONA ON DECK. Arizona is the next team on Ohio State's plate — that contest is on Saturday at 5 p.m. — and the Wildcats are a balanced and experienced team. In fact, some people have them pegged as a "Kentucky-killer."
From Reid Forgave of FoxSports.com:
First is the experience factor. Arizona has a backcourt of upperclassmen (senior point guard T.J. McConnell and junior off-guard Gabe York). The Wildcats have a frontcourt of upperclassmen, too: junior power forward Brandon Ashley and junior center Kaleb Tarczewski. But I think the fact that Kentucky is the youngest team in the NCAA tournament field doesn’t really matter. Last season counts as at least two seasons of experience to me: The hype leading into the season, the letdown of the regular season when Kentucky appeared on the bubble to even make the tournament, then the incredible March run where it fulfilled all its immense promise. Plus the pressure of playing in the NCAA tournament is similar to the pressure of setting foot on the Kentucky campus as a basketball player in that basketball-nutty state. These players came here because they wanted that sort of pressure.
More important is that Arizona is one of the few teams in the country — with Duke and perhaps Wisconsin as the only others — that have the elite, NBA-level talent that can put them in the same arena as Kentucky. Stanley Johnson is a surefire lottery pick, but don’t forget that Tarczewski, Ashley and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson — not to mention freshman reserve center Dusan Ristic — are all NBA prospects, too.
But the case for Arizona focuses on two things: The fact its defense is nearly as dominant as Kentucky’s historically great defense — Arizona’s pack-line unit is ranked third in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings — and the fact it’ll speed opponents up with an offense that ranks 30th in the nation in average length of possession.
That doesn't make this Buckeye fan's intestines warm, that's for sure. As ridiculous as Russell was against VCU, he's going to have to be even better against Arizona. (Unless, of course, AMIR SMASH is orchestrating the greatest long con in the history of American crime.)
ELI APPLE ISN'T SPECIAL. Urban Meyer stresses he doesn't recruit kids; he recruits families. After flipping through Eli Apple's mom's blog, it's easy to see why Eli's apart of the squad.
From Annie Apple of SurvivinAmerica.com:
Having a son play division one college football for a top program and attend a great university are wonderful accomplishments for Eli, and we’re very proud of him. But that’s not what makes him special to me. What makes him special is the person he is. We’ve always taught Eli that football is what he does, not who he is. And it’s the person he is that makes him special.
I’ve watched him grow, learn, fall, rise up and he’s always maintained his identity. We’ve always taught him to be his own version of a black man, not living down to society’s view of what a black man should wear, how he should talk, dress and behave. He’s not just my youngest son but a trusted friend.
The greatest compliment a parent can give to a child is, “I not only love you, but I actually like you.” I like Eli. What makes Eli special to me is he hasn’t changed. He’s grown and continues to grow, but he hasn’t allowed the on-field dynamics to define or change him. He is very much himself. He treats people well. He’s funny. He’s devoted to his family. He loves God, not in a religious way but in a relational, communal sense. Not emotional or overly affectionate, but he’s honest and objective. He’s not compulsive but a thinker. Like most 19 year-old young men, keeping his room tidy can be a challenge, and when it comes to food, he’s picky. He won’t eat what he doesn’t like.
If my mom blogged about me as a 19-year-old it'd be incomprehensible strings of text from the repeated pounding of her skull into the keyboard.
WRASSLIN' UPDATE. *takes a drag on a corncob pipe* Hmmm, looks like Ohio State's wrestling team is getting #bizzy in the NCAA Tournament:
Team scores: 1. @wrestlingbucks - 23.0 2. Iowa - 21.0 3. Ok. St. - 19.5 4. Penn St. - 18.5 5. Missouri - 18.0 5. Nebraska - 18.0 #GoBucks
— Mike Basford (@MikeBasford_OSU) March 20, 2015
Curt Heinrichs' full break down is over here.
STEPHEN COLLIER CLAIMS MARCH MADNESS IS FIXED. Finding out sports are fixed would be a devastating blow to my life.
At B Dubs and actually saw someone press the OT button. Amazing.
— Stephen Collier (@S13Collier) March 20, 2015
If it turned out Buffalo Wild Wings was the wizard behind the curtain, I would commit a string of felonies until I was killed by police. The only more revolting corporate puppetmaster would be Arby's.
THOSE WMDs. I would party with these guys... Huskies Walking on Water... Long Live Georgia State's Coach... Man’s girlfriend and ex-partner jump into river to see who he’ll rescue... #WearYellowForSeth on March 27th... Who Is Mason Reese And Why Is He Crying?
