The Curse of Brooks

Note to all college basketball players and coaches: pray that I don’t put you in my Final Four.

Every damn year I suck at this. I make my bracket and, in confidence, I believe that by some miracle I just may be right and win my group challenge. Once again, I am reminded how much I suck at this.

I did do a little better this year. While Wake Forest, my upset pick, got knocked out in the first round by Cleveland State, my other three made it farther than usual. Duke made it to the Sweet 16, Oklahoma to the Elite Eight, and UConn is in the Final Four (I had Oklahoma over UConn in the championship).

People called me crazy for picking Oklahoma. I only had (and still have) two words… Blake Griffin. Dude’s a beast. Regardless of the fact that North Carolina spanked the Sooners, Griffin was still the best player in the NCAA this year. I’d take him over Tyler Hansbrough any day.

Wake Forest was iffy. After they lost the top spot in the hoops poll they limped on the rest of the season. Still, I thought that the Deacons could pull some upsets. After all, history tells us that any team in the dance has a shot.

As for Duke, I thought their division was weak. While Pitt was strong, they choked a lot. And they did again in the tournament to Big East Rival Villanova. I just thought the Blue Devils could pull through. I had them beating Pitt in the Elite Eight.

And of all of this what pisses me off the most is Michigan State. I am a life-long Spartan fan, thanks to my Dad being an alumnus. Ever since I was a kid I have loved all MSU sports. So why am I angry that they are in the Final Four? Because every year I DO pick them to get there they choke. The years that I haven’t (2005 and this year), they do. I’ll be wearing my green and white for the remainder of the tournament, I just wish that I could have picked them too.

So, in conclusion, I am just ranting. Next year I’ll have less confidence in my picks. For fuck’s sake, I suck at this.

Confliction on the Court

They lost to DePaul. How the hell did that happen?

Last week, UC lost to DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament. In case you didn’t know, the Blue Demons went 0-18 in conference play. Yet somehow, the Bearcats broke down.

UC head coach Mick Cronin has yet to get past the first round of the conference tourney. He has gone 0-10 in March, during his three year tenure. And the program has yet to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament, after getting there almost every year under Bob Huggins.

The fact is that UC had a winning basketball tradition. It was one of the premier programs in the country. While I do agree that Huggins deserved the axe for off-court issues, Cronin has done a horrible job filling his shoes.

Yes, taking the place of a local legend is not easy, but the name University of Cincinnati, alone, used to be able to get some of the country’s top recruits. Now, it struggles. Kids look at it and say “No.”

Maybe if the Bearcats were still in Conference USA it would be different, but the Big East is a whole other animal. It is the best and toughest conference in the country. And under Cronin, they can’t even break into the middle of the pack.

Here’s the big problem quickly arising with UC basketball: UC football. With a limited amount of money it’s kind of hazy how much money the school will be able to allocate to the two programs. While the school is traditionally known as a basketball school, their recent failures may have hampered the program for a while. On the other hand, the football program is on the rise and starting to bring new money to the school that it didn’t have before.

Can we blame Cronin for this? No. But the students and fans are quickly turning against him. Calling out cross-town rival Xavier (who he has yet to beat) doesn’t help you out, buddy. And when Huggins was here, he was the most beloved coach at the school. With the success on the gridiron, the fans won’t hesitate to turn on Cronin as they’ve fallen in love with Brian Kelly.

Basically, my opinion is that UC should give Cronin one more year, but they have the keep close tabs on him. No more stupid sound bites. Maybe one win in March. The guy needs a lot of help if he wants to keep coaching after 2010.

Give the Dawg a Bone

In just a few months, ex-Falcons’ quarterback and dog whisperer extraordinaire Michael Vick will be back in the free world.

The fact that Vick could potentially be back in the NFL leads to some issues. And you have to break it down into two questions: Should he be allowed back into the NFL and would any team want him?

From what I gather, most people don’t want him back in the NFL. I don’t blame them either. The dog fighting circus that Vick funded and served as ring-master not only shamed his own name but that of his team and the league.

However, players have done worse things and still been allowed to stay in the league. Ray Lewis was accused of murder, Pacman Jones of hiring someone to shoot someone, Jamal Lewis was involved in a drug bust, and Chris Henry is just a burden to society. All of these players have been punished by both the law and the league. All of these players are still in the league.

And when Vick gets out of prison, he will have served his full 23-month sentence. He hasn’t gotten into trouble while in the slammer and has been relatively quiet since. They say that prison is supposed to punish people so that they don’t make the same mistakes again. Let’s hope it has.

I know this isn’t the easiest thing to believe, but Vick should be allowed back in the league. The fact is that he not only has been behind bars and will have served the sentence that he was given as a result of his crime, but he also has been suspended indefinitely since. By all means, Vick deserves to be back in the league.

If Roger Goodell decides to suspend him for another year, that is up to his own discretion. But banning him for life? I know I want to see that, but it shouldn’t happen.

Now, who would want Vick? That’s a whole other animal.

Vick wasn’t that good of a quarterback to begin with. He has never thrown more than 55% of his passes accurately in a year. No other “run first” quarterback since him has had any success. If Vick wants to come back into the league, he can’t be a quarterback. On the other hand, there will be a team out there that might give him a chance to be under center.

Right now NFL general managers have the luxury of sitting back and saying that they have no interest in pursuing Vick. He is still serving his sentence for a few more months, free agency has just begun, the draft is coming up, and Goodell hasn’t even made his decision on him. Plus, the Falcons want a trade for Vick, and other teams know that when he comes back there will be no place on their roster for him, making a cut imminent. Every GM can wait on that call.

And who doesn’t love a great story of redemption? Before he went to prison, Vick apologized for his crimes. Many, including myself, were skeptic. I mean, had he not gotten caught would he have apologized? But now he’s lost all of his money, his houses, his friends, his team, and his job. If anything, he has definitely paid the price for his crime.

I say let him back into the NFL. The unemployment rate in this country is high enough as is and someone as athletically talented as Vick doesn’t need to be on that list. Let him play, but keep him on a short leash (pun intended).