1. The officiating at the Super Bowl was disappointing, but I've seen worse. I'm not gonna write my Congressman. The pass interference call against Darrell Jackson was the right call. It stopped the defender from being able to lurch forward and make a play for the ball.
2. Speaking of officiating, what a stance the ACC is taking! Suspending officials for bad calls? I like it. Particularly, I like the way they used it — not for a bad judgment call, but for a fundamental error. If you missed it, Florida State's Alexander Johnson fouled Duke's Shelden Williams very hard. Shelden sprung up and took a swing at Johnson, who did not retaliate, and they were quickly separated. Officials gave Williams a technical foul (okay), and whistled Johnson for an intentional foul (okay) and a separate technical foul. Huh? He didn't do anything beyond the hard takedown of Williams and apparently the officials couldn't adequately explain themselves to the ACC.
3. What is it with grievous, non-judgment-call errors coming from refs working college basketball these days? In January, Houston coach Tom Penders suffered a bad dizzy spell and collapsed on the sidelines. Officials thought he was histrionically reacting to a call that went against his team and assessed a technical. After Penders was taken off the court on a stretcher (he was fine and returned in the second half), play resumed and officials DID NOT RESCIND THE TECHNICAL FOUL! So beware college coaches ... collapsing on the sidelines might cost your team possession and give the other team free throws. Conference USA later "criticized" the officials, but did not suspend them. If there's one crew in America who deserves suspension more than the Florida State/Duke crew, it's this one.
4. I've never quite been comfortable with the code of silence around high-level officials. We can't question them. We can't interview them. They can't explain themselves. If we can pillory any coach or player during press conferences, then officials should be fair game, as well. I think a lift of the gag order for officials of major sports would lead to a new respect for the refs, actually. A lot of calls that appear to be bad on the surface probably just reflect a poor understanding of the intricacies of the rules by your average fan and media member. In short, I think officials could shut up a lot of their detractors if they were allowed to talk.
5. Whenever you hear of an athlete making an "obscene gesture" with his hands, we always assume it's the middle finger. Apparently, however, there's another non-animated, obscene gesture you can make with your hands, and J.J. Redick apparently has done so. I had to read the whole article, including the links and comments, to understand it. Part of me is grossed out and part of me is wondering how any obscene gesture has eluded me all these years.
6. Last year, I wrote that there were no young American golfers who looked poised for any kind of greatness at all. Now I think there are two: Sean O'Hair and J.B Holmes.
7. Fantasy golf is the only fantasy sport I play. You may think that's geeky. I submit that I'm a specialist and cooler than you.
8. So first Isiah Thomas threatens ESPN writer Bill Simmons. Now Doc Rivers, while not threatening him, angrily responded to Simmons' article calling for his dismissal. Given how delighted Simmons seems to be whenever he makes the news rather than writes about it, expect the baiting tone of his articles and the viciousness of his attacks to reach a new high in the coming months.
9. If a university would start a class on poker psychology, I would signup for it. I'm amazed at how acutely obvious it seems that I get sucked out on way, way more often than the odds say I should. I also know that every poker player feels this way, and it has to do with the fact that the bad beats are more memorable. So why does knowing that not help in either dealing with it or feeling it less?
10. Another thing I notice is that if I am playing for micro stakes or play money, that's when I hit my draws, take down monster pots, bust people out, and the suck-outs don't happen. Is this another illusion that everyone else feels, as well?
11. I'm excited that Bracket Buster Weekend is just a week and a half away, and the mid-majors get 15 minutes in the college basketball spotlight. My favorite mid-major, the Mid-American Conference, really got jobbed. No games on ESPN, ESPN2, two games on ESPNU, and two games (the only two games) on ESPN360 (streaming web), which is not widely available and is not television. Old Dominion vs. Marist, however, made it to ESPN2. Explain that to me. The MAC is a conference that has sent nine teams to the second round of the NCAA tournament or further since 1990. I don't think the Colonial Athletic Conference or the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference can make that claim. (Checking their Conference RPI, both the MAAC and the CAA have the MAC beat. I'll shut up now.)
12. Any regular reader knows how I pray to the altar of college football. Yet no matter how hard I try, I cannot get very interested in recruiting. I just hope my teams land some good ones. I don't study it. I don't get excited about it.
13. If I printed up personalized t-shirts that read, "Standing up to the media's and the official's orchestrated attempts to undermine (INSERT YOUR TEAM HERE)," do you think I'd make a lot of money? Because it seems like everyone feels that way.
14. I'm getting tired of everyone bashing ESPN. I can live with the fact that they are a hype machine. Their analysts are entitled to their opinions, and they are not looking to keep (INSERT YOUR TEAM HERE) down. Thanks to their ever-burgeoning network, we get to see a bazillion college football and basketball games that we otherwise wouldn't, and that's the bottom line. Turn the sound down if you don't like what they have to say.
15. Last year at this time, I wrote a piece extolling the virtues of a wonderful golf tournament, the Johnny Walker Classic. This year, they haven't been able to draw as many big names as in the past, and it'll be shown tape-delayed on the Golf Channel in the standard three-hour package, rather than the 4-5-hour live package they've done the last couple years. That makes me sad.
16. As I write this, the Johnnie Walker Classic is actually underway, and Kevin Stadler (USA) is the clubhouse leader halfway through round one. Who says I never break any news?
17. The info from item No. 16 is courtesy of EuropeanTour.com. I managed at first to accidentally type "EuopeanTour.com" and "eurpoeantour.com" .... and both of those domain names are taken! Naturally, they are marketing websites hawking golf equipment, European vacations, stuff like that. I believe there's a special place in hell for those who maintain websites designed to take advantage of typos.
18. Don't look now, but the team ranked third nationally by the RPI formula for college basketball is ... Tennessee. That's the men, not the women.
19. The worst RPI for a school belonging to a major conference (which I define as the BCS conferences)? South Florida (222nd).
20. My early final four picks: Duke, Villanova, West Virginia, and Tennessee.
21. Fire Matt Millen.
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