Experience vs. Youth

If full court pressure is before you, be patient. Think fast while moving slowly. Don't run into the trap. Don't tailgate. The object is to prevent being involved in catashtrophe.
This year's version of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is said to be the weakest pool of invites in recent memory, according to experts and analysts, which can only mean one thing: The 2010 tourney promises to be unpredictable, if not anything else.

#3 New Mexico 29-4 (14-2)
The Lobos finished the season ranked no. 8 in the nation behind the nearly insane play from 6'7" junior guard Darington Hobson, averaging 19 points and 9 rebounds per game. New Mexico will match up against fourteenth seeded Montana in the East bracket of the first round.

#3 Pittsburgh 24-8 (13-5)
The Panthers had a relatively strong season, finishing 16 in the national rankings with victories over conference rivals Syracuse, West Virginia, and Villianova. Questionable losses came at Texas and Indiana. Pitt will face off against Oakland in the West bracket.

#3 Baylor 25-7 (11-5)
The Bears finished ranked 21st in the country and will go head-to-head with Sam Houston State in the first round of the tournament. Baylor suffered losses to Alabama, Colorado, and Oklahoma State during the regular season.

#3 Georgetown 23-10 (10-8)
John Thompson, III and his Hoyas finished the season with a 74-47 blowout victory over Cincinnati, then advanced to the Big East Championship only to lose to West Virginia by two. With super sophomore Greg Monroe, Georgetown will continue to look ahead to face Ohio in the Midwest region of the bracket.

Most teams with juniors and seniors on their rosters show little, or no sign of excitement and take a business-like approach to each game, while underclassmen tend to perform oragami oftentimes than none against a 2-3 zone defense that doubles as the start of the set offense. Forwarding to the championship, the scoreboard should read,  Kentucky 81-76, over Syracuse. Maybe.

Smoke Break

Light one up. The only difference here is the $5.15 + tax we pay for the glamorous look. It's carbon monoxide, regardless. Let's take a look, shall we?
Without mentioning nicotine, cigarettes also contain:
Arsenic, used in rat poison.
Acetic acid, main ingredient in hair dye.
Ammonia, toilet bowl cleaner, among other uses.
Formaldehyde, used to embalm dead bodies.
Hydrazine, which is used in jet and rocket fuels.
Hydrogen cyanide, the poison in gas chambers.
Naphthalene, used in explosives and mothballs (that's right).
Phenol, used in disinfectants and plastics.
Polonium, which is a radiation dosage that is equivalent to 300 chest X-rays within a year.
Vinyl chloride, ingredient found in garbage bags (c'mon, son!).
Okay you can put it out now. Each day one goes without smoking, small hairlike, single-cell organisms called cilia inside the lungs start to sweep out germs as the body begins to repair some of the damage caused by smoking. Next, give the remaining cigarettes to the garbage bag from which they originally came. Day one.....

...Since Sliced Bread

 

Celebrate the life of Garrett Morgan. Not because it's Black History Month, as commerce likes to market, but for the simple reason of sheer brilliance of the native of Paris, Kentucky. Being a country of so many diverse backgrounds of ethnicity, all 'colors' define the United States' history. One has to be green to believe otherwise.
Morgan was born in 1877, thinking of innovative ideas up until the summer of 1963, when he died, in Cleveland, Ohio. During his eighty-six years, Garrett Morgan managed to come up with components to invent the world's first respiratory protective hood, commonly known as the gas mask. Morgan didn't stop there. He also incorporated a hair straightening fluid (relaxer) for a more idealized look. Genius, right? Try an invention billions of people celebrate across the globe daily. Young Garrett Morgan also achieved at inventing the traffic light. Whose history? Some would say Black. Others may convey American. Maybe he considered himself simply Garrett Morgan.

2269 Dan Marino Blvd.

Some claim it to be the single most biggest stage in sports.  The ultimate coup de grace. One final stop. This end-all, single lunge for irrefutable supremacy, should answer a lot of questions on February 7 in Miami's Sun Life Stadium, or commonly known as Land Shark Stadium.
Briefly, the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts finished with the best records in the league and in their respective conferences, so on paper they indeed should be facing off against each other.
The Saints are first in points and yards per game. The Colts are the second best passing attack in the league and a top ten scoring defense with virtually no running game, finishing last in the league. Quarterbacks Peyton Manning (2nd) and Drew Brees (6th) were in the NFL's top ten in passing yards and touchdowns (Brees 1st, Manning 2nd). The impact of Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney should be ruled out simply because the severity of his ankle injury has forced the team to play backup DE Raheem Brock more than they would like to. To wrap it up in... an orange, expect the usual, to an extent. Super Bowl 44 should be not only a great story and colossal event, but a game for the ages as well.
In the end, the final may be predicated by a special teams play or perhaps a game-winning scoring drive.  No matter the outcome, Bourbon Street will be disconnected, as opposed to off the hook, to put things mildly.


Off-season comparison: WR    REC      YDS      TD
Sidney Rice                           83         1312          8
Santonio Holmes                    79         1248          5

The Puppy Classic

The 57th Annual Senior Bowl will be played in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, 3pm CDT, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The most elite graduates that college football has to offer will audition in their very first NFL competition. The North squad will be looking to end a two-game losing streak to the South, in which the South won 35-18 behind the heroics of the game's MVP, Pat White in '09. Matt Forte of the North squad took the MVP honors in '08, despite losing 17-16 on a last second touchdown catch by Andre Caldwell.

The North will feature Detroit Lions' first year coach, Jim Schwartz and his staff, while the South will have Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano and his staff on the sidelines. The South will have quite the demanding task this year as the North squad will headline some of the country's absolute best.

Cincinnati's 6'6" 212 pound quarterback Tony Pike will grace the North while Central Michigan's 6'3" 229 pound QB Dan LeFevour will return to Mobile after a dramatic, come-from-behind double overtime victory over Troy in the GMAC Bowl. Nebraska's 5'11" 211 pound Larry Asante will be in the North's secondary, 5'10" 202 pound running back Chris Brown will represent Oklahoma, and 6'1" 222 pound receiver Dorin Dickerson from Pittsburgh will run routes, just to name a few.

The South should be flying around as well, with six players from the BCS National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide, including defensive back Javier Arenas and colossal defensive lineman Terrance Cody. Mississppi State's 6'0" 245 pound running back Anthony Dixon, Ole Miss' multi-purpose receiver Dexter McCluster, Miami (FL) tight end Jimmy Graham, USC 6'3" 231 pound defensive back Taylor Mays, and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, among others will attempt to stretch the South's winning streak to three by the game's end.

The Next Level

Many words can be used to describe senior Tim Tebow. Admirable, tough, and leader are certainly a few. One term could possibly prove to be in question. NFL quarterback. The twenty-two year-old native of Jacksonville is arguably the greatest quarterback in college football's history. Standing 6'3" and tipping the scales at 245 pounds before he steps into the phone booth, Tebow has managed to compile quite a resume and will be the litmus test for outstanding student athletes for years to come. On the field alone, his career is comparable to any collegiate at any position, capping off a four-year journey with a season in which he threw for 2,895 yards, 21 touchdowns with only 5 interceptions on top of 910 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, finished with a 13-1 record and a BCS bowl game victory over the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats by the score of  51-24.
 The graduate of Nease High School will be forced to learn quickly as he is to make his NFL debut January 30th at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. This will also be his opportunity to prove he can read defenses pre-snap, accurately throw passes to receivers who are not wide open as a beneficial result to a spread offense, and go through necessary receiver progressions in a pro-style offense at a much more rapid rate. Perhaps the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner will continue his dominance and go on to be one the greatest professional quarterbacks in history. A select few will remain skeptical until proven foolish.

Meet Darrelle Revis

There's not a whole lot to be said about New York Jets All- Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis, especially since he's probably not going to win the league's Defensive Player Of The Year Award. Instead, here are performances from some of the NFL's best receivers to which Revis was assigned.

PLAYER                                                  RECEPTIONS              YARDS       TDS

Andre Johnson                           4                  35         0

Randy Moss                             4/5             24/34      0/1

Marques Colston                         2                 33         0

Terrell Owens                           3/3             31/13     0/0

Steve Smith (CAR)                      1                  5         0

Roddy White                              4                  33        0

Chad Ochocinco                         0                   0         0

Meanwhile, the 5'11" 198 pound, third year heatseeker from Pittsburgh has collected six interceptions with one returned for a score.

Off-season comparison 2009 season: WR
Marques Colston                        70               1074        9
Vincent Jackson                         63              1167        9