Ties Won't Win League for the Gunners

To everyone’s surprise, Arsenal did not lose to Manchester City yesterday.

In the beginning of the match, David Silva of Manchester City scored early in the eighteenth minute and every Arsenal fan surely thought, “Here we go again, another shellacking from the big four.”

The first half Arsenal played was full of lethargic defending and uninspired midfield play. With the exception of Lukas Podolski’s cross on the left flank, the midfielders did nothing but pass the ball four yards between each other in the center of the pitch. No one made runs and no one attempted to get wide to cross the ball into the box. The Gunners clearly lacked the necessary firepower to beat a top flight team.

After being beaten in every facet of the game in the first forty-five minutes, Arsenal responded in the second half. The midfield suddenly came alive and decided; rather than playing patty-cake in the middle, they were going to make runs down the wings and cross the ball into the opposition’s eighteen yard box. Arsenal’s play was quickly rewarded in the fifty-third minute, when Lukas Podolski whipped the ball into a running Mathieu Flamini who netted the cross to tie up the game.

Arsenal began to dominate possession as the game went on. Olivier Giroud had a chance to put them up 2-1 after receiving a long ball from Tomas Rosicky, but ended up missing the goal to the right.

The game ended level, with both teams splitting a point between each other.

A draw against Manchester City is not usually a bad result. However, in this case Arsenal had to win the game and they didn't. This year’s Arsenal squad is in a hole that they have little chance of climbing out of.

Their demise started with a 5-1 loss to Liverpool. Then, they faced struggling rivals Manchester United. This match ended in a 0-0 tie. After positive play in the FA Cup with a 2-1 win against Liverpool, they lost 1-0 to Stoke City in league play. (Arsenal get a pass for the loss to Bayern Munich, there was no way they were going to get a victory against the best team in the world. Beating them would have been the equivalent of Glass Joe beating Little Mac in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out.) Such disappointing losses pale in comparison to the 6-0 beat down they received at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. Arsenal then followed this embarrassing showing with an underwhelming performance against thirteenth place Swansea City in which they tied 2-2.

The fact of the matter is that top teams show up for every game. So far, Arsenal hasn’t done that. 

On the bright side, after they play Everton, their schedule gets a bit easier. The highest placed team they will face is ninth place Newcastle United.

There is no other choice for Arsenal but to win out and also get help to even have a chance of capturing the league title. Ties will not cut it, even against a good team like Manchester City. The Gunners have six Premier League games left; they must get all eighteen points to have a chance at winning the league title.

Is Taj Gibson Overrated? (Part 1 - Offense)

Carlos Boozer cause an uproar in Chicago in February when he said - publicly - that he wanted more 4th quarter minutes. Head coach Tom Thibodeau’s response was that Boozer had to sacrifice being in during the end of games, much in the same way Taj Gibson sacrificed starting.  Bulls fans freaked out.  We were so close!  Booz, say one more stupid thing so that Taj gets to start!

AHHHH I DON'T PLAY DEFENSE

Boozer has had a tough go in Chicago. It was going to be tough to live up to his 5 year, roughly 16 million dollar a year contract. The Bulls had a ton of cap room that season, having cleared much of their salary away in a bold attempt to sign LeBron James. They had weight to throw around, and it was impossible not to overpay Boozer with so many teams bidding for his services. Remember, this was a guaranteed 20/10 guy in Utah, an All Star forward.  

Taj Gibson, on the other hand, is a homegrown talent, drafted late, a diamond in the rough.  He has a reputation as a blue collar player and a hard worker, propagated by one of Stacey King’s favorite one liners after a quintessential Taj play : “Hard hat, lunch pail.”  Its not hard to love the overlooked hardworker.  It’s very difficult to love the overpaid mercenary. The disdain towards Booz is propagated even further by his offensive game, which is based around rainbow jumpers and fadeaways, and his defensive game, which is nonexistent.  With Boozer as a foil, Gibson looks like the gritty player that Chicagoans love. Bulls fans are already looking forward to Boozer being gone and Gibson starting, presumably with his game blossoming as a result.  

One of Taj's most memorable moments against the Heat last year.  He had 12 points in total, but these two stood out.

However, the more Gibson plays, the more I wonder about whether he is a bona fide starter in the NBA. He has a highlight slam or block every once in a while, and it seems sometimes like highlight plays have buoyed Gibson’s sterling public repoire with Chicago fans.  Basketball is such a nuanced sport that it’s hard to say one way or the other whether Taj is overrated.  Several parts of his game have improved dramatically.  Unfortunately, other parts remain underdeveloped.  

 

Gibson’s play has dramatically shifted away from the basket since last season.  More than 44% of Gibson’s field goal attempts came within 3 feet of the basket, and, not surprisingly, Gibson made nearly half of those shots (49%). This season, however, Taj has ventured away from the basket, and although the majority of his shots still come within 0-3 feet of the basket, the percentage has gone down dramatically, to just 38%.  Those 6 percentage points moved outside the paint, where Taj is now taking 23% of his shots, up from 17% last year.  

Bulls fans seem to think that Taj’s jumper has improved over the past season, and that he is more than capable of hitting a fifteen footer. However, Taj has only made about 40% of his shots in between 10-16 feet for his career, and he’s actually doing slightly worse this season.

Part of this has to do with increased usage. Gibson is the focal point of the offense for the second unit, and more attempts has led to a much increased usage rate, up from 18% last year to 23% this year.  The majority of Taj’s offensive touches come when he is posting up - about 33 percent of Taj’s offensive plays.  This makes sense - Thibodeau loves to post his bigs, and loves to go to Taj in particular. However, Taj isn’t actually that good of a post up player.  When he’s guarded by a single defender, Taj is averaging about .827 points per possession, which is in the bottom half of the league.  

We are faced with a dual problem.  Taj isn’t a great post up player, but he isn’t a great mid range shooter either.  Taj is most effective on the left block when he posts up and take short, aggressive turnaround jumpers.  He’s actually very good going over either shoulder, and scores more than half of the time (56%) when attacking defenders over the left shoulder, and puts up similar numbers going over his right shoulder .  He needs to become more comfortable attacking the rim from different spots on the court, however - Taj posts up on the left block 79 percent of the time and is abysmal coming off the right block, in the bottom quarter in the league in efficiency.  

So we’ve established that Taj isn’t the best offensively, but he certainly isn’t the worst.  Resoundingly average is perhaps the best way to put Taj Gibson’s offensive game.  I can already hear the Bulls fans yelling : “Wait just a minute! Anything Taj does on the offensive end is a bonus.  We love him for his rock solid defense.”  If by rock solid, you mean, ‘slightly above average,’ then I agree entirely.  

Check back next week for a breakdown of Taj Gibson on the defensive end.

All date acquired via Synergy Sports and basketball-reference.com

Cougar Report: Rise Their Out

Rise (or not) and Shout (or at least speak in more than a whisper), the Cougars are out.  Out as in losing in the first round in the NCAA tourney.  Out as in getting thumped by the Oregon Ducks, in a game in which the Cougars never lead, and in which they were outshot and outhustled.  Out as in down and out and finished for the season.  The BYU men’s basketball team finished in second place in the WCC, second place in the post-season conference tournament, and probably in second place in the hearts of the Cougar fans.  (They were probably in second place because of the surprisingly good showing from the women’s team, which has made it to the sweet sixteen on the women’s side.)

As to the men, there were too many problems with this year’s team.  There were too many flaws, and too many pieces which didn’t fit together well.  They had several forwards who couldn’t score, a point guard so inconsistent that one game you loved him and another you hated him, a defense which could not defend the three-point shot and made heroes out of garden variety players on opposing teams, a pathetic inability to shoot free throws, and a system dedicated to running and gunning and hoping only to outscore the opponent, not bothering with the defensive side of the game.  With all that said, the Cougar men won more than twenty games, and came close in games against tourney teams such as Iowa State, and even beat Texas and Stanford, other tourney teams.  In the end, though, the Cougars were more frustrating than fun to watch.

The women, on the other hand, have made it to the sweet sixteen.  They have had a very nice run, and have responded well to coaching.  They can hit free throws and outside shots, and have done better than was expected of them.  The trouble is, that they play UConn (or is it Yukon, the Alaskan team?), and that will be the end of the line for the lady Cougars.  UConn hardly ever loses, and they have a habit of not only beating, but destroying the teams they play.  Kind of like a steam roller bearing down on a turtle in the street.  One of them is going to get flattened.   But maybe, like most women’s basketball games, nobody will watch it.  In any event, congratulations to the lady Cougars for a wonderful season.

In other news, the Cougar football team has its spring scrimmage tomorrow.  There is great optimism in Cougar town, because the duo of Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams is back for another year.  The optimism should be tempered by a dose of reality, since the offensive line is also back.  Last year they were, in a word, mediocre.  If they can’t block, and hold their blocks, it will be a long year for Taysom and Jamaal.  But hope always springs eternal among the Cougar faithful, and hundreds will turn out for the glorified scrimmage tomorrow.  This reporter will be there.

Finally, as Cougar fans, we need to be measured in our optimism.  This reporter has been accused of being a “Pollyanna,” and of thinking that the Cougars always have a chance to be in the top 25, both in football and basketball.  As one close to this reporter has said, “they are what they are” and “don’t get your hopes up too much.”  The honor code does limit the recruits they are able to get, and the “niceness” of the university sometimes wears off on the teams, and they don’t have the “kick butt, take names” mentality we wish they would have.   But we shall see what this season brings.

JudgeWood

The Death of A Dynasty: The Lakers

         

Since their emigration from the desolate land of Minneapolis the Los Angeles Lakers have been a hallmark of the NBA and a staple of California life. Indeed, The purple and gold have been NBA royalty.  It has always been this way. A little less than two seasons ago it appeared that it  would always be this way. Success has been a friend of the Lakers since the time of Elgin Baylor, through era of “Showtime”, onto the era of Shaq and finally to the two glorious championships earned solely by the Black Mamba. Over the past quarter century, The Los Angeles Lakers have been the most successful franchise in American sports.

Recent, experiences have begun to cast doubt on whether the dynasty is over. Even individuals who are faithful fans, such as myself, have begun to doubt whether or not the Los Angeles Lakers will continue this dominance. Do the Los Angeles Lakers remain a dynasty or have they simply reverted back to a basketball team?

Despite all the irrational love and emotion that I possess, I am sad to say that the logical side of me believes that the dynasty that has ruled at the top of the league for the past forty years has died. My brain has betrayed my heart and now I must justify my position.  Here are my reasons

Point Number 1: “The Wheels on the Buss Have Gone”

When Dr. Jerry Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers in 1978 the game of basketball as we know it was revolutionized. Dr. Buss brought with him a much needed excitement for the sport of

basketball. Through his genius, Jerry Buss hatched the idea of the Laker Girls, the creation of the Fabulous Forum, and as luck would have it Dr. Buss and the Lakers organization were sent Magic Johnson. And so “Showtime” in LA began.

            During his tenure as owner of the Lakers Dr. Buss was known for two things, winning championships and knowing how to navigate through difficult decisions. Dr. Buss had the unique ability to place competent people in charge and then to trust that they would do their job. With this being stated, Dr. Buss also knew how to handle his own business. He knew when to trust a Jerry West who wanted to trade one of the best centers in the game for a high schooler from Lower Merion High School. He also knew when to let arguably the greatest center in the game leave his team.

            

I suppose the only fault of Mr. Buss was the fact that he had two children. Jeanie has done a lot of good for the team. Including an iron-clad vow of chastity to get Phil Jackson to come out of retirement and coach the Lakers. However, I don’t think she is able to manage an entire organization like the Lakers, especially when she isn’t even in charge of the basketball operations. She has the difficult task of being the joint ruler of the laker kingdom, one which Dr. Buss himself never had to perform.

            As for Jim Buss? Well, is there anything that I could say that the Keyboard Cat could not?

Mr. Cat please play him off.

             Point Number 2 The Fight in the Dog

            Even in the worst of times (1994, 2005-2007) the Lakers showed some sort of heart. Though the Lakers were unable to make the playoffs in the 1994 season, Magic Johnson stepped out of retirement ad back in the limelight in order to bring some semblance of hope into the land of the Lakers. While the Lakers were unable to make the playoffs in 2006, Kobe Bryant still managed to put up some of the strongest scoring numbers of his career, including an 81 point performance against the Toronto Rapters.

            The point of this is that there was still some fight. There was some sort of leadership. There was someone providing hope to the Laker Community. All that is left for the Lakers is: an ailing Kobe Bryant (whose 48 million dollar contract is damning to the rebuilding of this team for at least the next two years), a Pau Gasol (who I guarantee has a countdown going of the day, hour, minute, and second that July 1^st occurs and he can get the out of Los Angeles), And a Steve Nash (who someone needs to take to the back of the barn and end his misery).

Point Number 3 Instagram

Ladies and Gentlemen I halfway into writing this piece, I have changed my mind. I just took a look at the Lakers Instagram and the photos posted along with the comments made by the fans have given me a new sense of hope for the Lakeshow. 

The Vanilla Guerrilla is giving our new point guard @jamesfgoldstein some tips on how to handle the ball. 

 

I really think that Ryan Kelly is going to end up a star in this league.

    Read Ransan08's comment 

@goswamivik shares his wisdom with us

 Pau is literally walking away from his teammates in disgust right now

As you can see from these pictures, there really isn't much to hold onto. 

Point Number 4 “This is Showtime?”

Over the past thirty-five years the Los Angeles Lakers have provided the most excitement within the NBA. For nearly four decades the rest of the NBA has been trying to replicate whatever moves the Los Angeles Lakers have made.  Most have failed miserably in doing so.  Fast breaks, big men, high scores, good defense, high profile businessmen, movie stars, and The Laker girls produced something that no other team could replicate, but everyone tried.

With this being stated, something has changed in the NBA. People are not replicating what the Lakers have created. Lebron and the Heath have provided enticing and fast paced action. Lob City is in full force. Is there really anything that Lakers can provide that other teams can’t? Do we really have anything that worth watching or do we just have Bob Sacre and fourteen other players that should be struggling for minutes in the D-League?

Point Number 12

The one hundred and five documented cases adultery committed by Tiger  Woods pales in comparison to the nearly 14 million loyal Laker fans that Dwight Howard screwed over  with a single signature on the bottom of a Houston Rockets contract. Indeed, Howard’s cowardice has forever damaged his already soiled reputation. His indecisive and selfish nature has damaged his rep to the point that he is no longer considered by any legitimate source as one of the top ten players in the NBA, even if he really should be.

However, the sin that Howard committed was far worse than the destruction of his own reputation. Howard dared to defy more than fifty years of tradition. D-12 walked away from the Los Angeles Lakers. This was not Magic telling Jerry buss that “Paul Westhead goes or I go.” This was no case of Shaquille O’Neal saying “It’s either Kobe or me.” What Dwight said was unprecedented in the history of the Lakers. Dwight wanted no part of the Lakers. He had no desire to remain in Los Angeles. There was no recompense, no restitution that the Lakers could have provided. Dwight simply did not want to be a Laker and I will always hate the SOB for that very reason.

 I do not wish him well. I do not hope that he lives his days peacefully. I can only hope that his career ends in an ignominious demise. I can only hope that he quickly becomes a non-factor within the confines of the NBA.  He deserves no respect, no praise, and most certainly no coverage by the NBA.

In Conclusion 

I hope that I am wrong. I hope against hope that I am wrong. Sadly, I don’t think I am. In the words of the great Chick Hern, (who might I add most people my age or younger don’t even recall broadcasting a game) the door is closed the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter’s getting hard, and the Jell-O’s jiggling. The Lakers are in the refrigerator.

A Treatise in Defense of the Vick Signing

Jets fans possess an unusual sense of deprecation towards their own team. While fans of teams more pathetic than Gang Green (I'm reaching to find a few) delude themselves with statements of "this is our year," Jets fans are renowned for their pessimism, or perhaps realism, summed up by three words:

SAME OLD JETS

The Jets are the team that play themselves into the playoff discussion, giving fans the slightest sliver of hope, only to lose out and dash those hopes.

SAME OLD JETS

This past season, they beat the Pats and made many a non-believer believe that this might be a decent team. The following week they lost to the Bengals 49-9. But hey, any given sunday, right? Later that season, they beat the Saints. The following week, they got trounced by the Bills 37-14. They are the team that is consistently inconsistent and reliably unreliable.

SAME OLD JETS

And thus you have a franchise mired in mediocrity. Were it not for the one Superbowl, the Jets could very well rank as the worst franchise in the NFL. While other franchises have had more atrocious stretches, such as the Saints and Buccaneers, they have also had seasons that rank amongst the best in NFL history.

Still, there was something comforting about the Jets quiet mediocrity. That was until about five years ago. The Jets became the NFL's three ring circus. You had an animated players' coach, a hot-shot QB from SoCal, and a lively locker room environment that was open to the public via HBO. At first, I myself was thrilled by this new-look Jets squad. Finally we were receiving attention not just from our loyal fans, but from the league as a whole. We embraced this upstart, boisterous image hold-heartedly. We were like the frumpy, plainish girl who sprouted breasts and put on makeup. She starts to get a bit of attention, and runs with it, regardless of what it does to her reputation.

And it worked for the first two years. The Jets made two AFC championships. Some thought the Jets should have gone all the way, but anyone who really knows the Jets knows that we overachieved. We were still that same average girl, and you can't jump from middle of the back to queen bee in two years. 2011-2013 was proof of that. We were who they they thought we were. You simply weren't that good that you could build a team on flashy, high-profile free agents to fill in the so-called holes. Most of your team was the hole. The locker room culture soon began to self-destruct and we all know Tim Tebow did nothing to fix that.

Last season, the Jets cleaned house and brought in a new GM, John Idzik to try to right the ship. In spite of the ups and downs of last season, I consider it to be a relative success. 8-8 with an erratic rookie QB with few weapons surrounding him seems like something of a triumph. It appears that Idzik might be the stabilizing force we need for long term success, as opposed to the Jets flash in the pan experiment.

Many view this offseason as a crucial moment for the Jets moving forward. Will they fall back into bad habits and go for a few overrated high-profile players or will they address their much needed positions and try to build slowly? Many Jets fans out there think this new Vick signing is evidence that the Jets have regressed, or relapsed rather, by falling into old habits. I wholeheartedly disagree. While it may seem that way, these are not the same old Jets.

This was a calculated risk-reward decision with only upside. The best case scenario is the Jets have a quality QB, something they have not had for too long. It does not matter if that QB is Vick or Smith. The worst case scenario is that neither pan out, in which case, the Jets are back where they were, but a few million dollars poorer for just one season. I still am inclined to believe that Vick has a few good years left in the right system, which he just may in, as he will be reunited with his same offensive coordinator from his best years in Philly. I am not saying that Michael Vick will solve all of our problems. I will not proclaim a Superbowl or bust season. I won't even go so far as to promise the playoffs. For me, this signing was more a testament to the new front office than to the players.

To those who think that this signing represents a continued era of loud players, flashy signings, and unrealistic expectations, you are quite wrong. I will say no more. To take from the great Dennis Green, I say let them think we are who they thought we were.

23

Twenty three has a sacred sort of power in Chicago. There is unabashed love for his Royal Airness, but the love is twinged with a healthy dose of terror. It’s kind of the same way that you’re supposed to love God. Love unequivocally. Fear constantly. No one, except for the chumps and the fools, wears twenty three on a court or field in Chicago.  

Chicagoans love MJ the same way you love God, with a healthy dose of fear.

So when Devin Hester galloped out on onto the field, sporting that Almighty number on his back, Chicago fans were naturally apprehensive.  We knew he was good, coming out of Miami, and that he returned kicks like no one’s business.  With our vaunted defense and historically anemic offense, a strong special teams was not so much a luxury as it was a necessity. But still. No one should wear twenty three.

Then he started to run.  The first return that really stood out was the one against Arizona.  Our offense had been particularly pungent all game; thankfully, there are two side of the ball in football.  Brian Urlacher had one of the best games of his career, flying all over the field, creating general chaos.  The Bears had crawled back, down just a score, despite not scoring an offensive touchdown.  Our defense had locked the Cardinals down yet again, and they were forced to punt to the young rookie, Devin Hester.  One cut, and he was gone.

The return against New York was more interesting.  The Giants were attempting a long field goal, into adverse conditions.  Devin Hester, the heads up player that he was, headed back into the endzone, just in case.  The kick hung in the air, Devin caught it, took a step, hesitated, and took off.  The Giants were woefully out of position.  They didn’t stand a chance.

On and on they came, one after another, until all of a sudden, the most exciting part of watching a Bears game was a defensive stand, deep in opposition territory.  We booed opponents too fearful to kick to him, even though it gave us great field position.  The running joke was that a Devin Hester kick return had higher odds of scoring than a series from Sexy Rexy and the Bears offense.  It felt like we accidentally fell into the Super Bowl that year, against Peyton Manning and the Colts. The Colts kicked off, light bulbs flashing, and there he was, number twenty three, weaving in and out of defenders, giving us hope that maybe, just maybe, we could hang with Peyton Manning and the Colts.  

Devin Hester gave Chicago fans hope, no matter who the opponent.

We got crushed that game.  It wasn’t even close.  But I will never, ever, forget that Devin Hester kick return.

Devin Hester signed with the Atlanta Falcons last week.  It was sort of inevitable.  Devin has become a much worse kick returner over the years as teams figured him out, and he started taking aggravating aggressive lines, resulting in huge losses of field position. However, losing Devin Hester, the kick returner, is in my mind, not as important as losing Devin Hester, the individual.  My favorite Devin Hester moment isn’t on the field.  It was on the podium.  

Devin had just scored his 14th kick return, an NFL record. Not once did he mention himself.  “I hate sitting here taking all the glory,” he said.  “I wish them other 10 guys were up here and you were asking them questions … all the glory goes to them.”  His voice cracked as he said it. The works trickled out of his mouth as he fought back tears - People said I wasn’t smart enough.  Well, I proved you wrong.

People thought he wasn’t smart enough because Devin Hester was a black kid from a predominantly black town in Florida.  They drooled over his speed and athleticism while simultaneously underestimating him because he was a minority.  They forgot that intelligence isn’t just about how well you can do in school.  Devin Hester called these people out, and put their injustices up to the screen for everyone to see.

Every Bears fan is rooting for Devin Hester, even though he’ll be wearing black and red in Atlanta.  And I really hope that when Devin gets to Atlanta, and they ask him what number he wants, he’ll keep on wearing twenty three.  

Best Games of NCAA Tournament Round #2 Recap

For those of you who are the casual watchers of sports and who just happened to turn on a couple of minutes of March Madness I have two things. First, dang you. This has been the greatest opening of the NCAA tournament ever. Second, here is a list of the most exciting games you missed.

Game #3: Texas vs. Arizona State

In a regular round one of the NCAA tournament, this game would have been the best. When Jonathan Holmes put up a shot that made Nosferatu look good, it appeared that this game was on its way to being the 3^rd overtime game of the tournament. Luckily for Holmes and the rest of the Longhorns, Cameron Ridley this brobdingnagian man was there to save. The 285 lbs, 6ft 9in woolly mammoth of a sophomore snatched the rebound from the floor and went up big.

Was Ridley’s shot pretty? No. Was his shot fundamentally sound? Not a chance. Did the shot go in? Yes. And with one simple shot the hopes of the Sun Devils were dashed and every Longhorn fan that made the 18 hr and 5 min drive from Austin to Milwauke lost their minds.

Ridley's put back must have been difficult for the seniors of Arizona State to watch.  However, I am sure that they are just glad to graduate from such a prestigious university.

 Wow it was so hard to type that without laughing.

Game #2 Duke Vs. Mercer

            For those of you who are not college basketball fans and don’t know where Mercer University is located in Georgia. With more than 8,300 students enrolled in 12 schools and colleges on campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah; three medical school sites in Macon, Savannah and Columbus; and at four Regional Academic Centers around the state, Mercer is consistently ranked among the nation’s leading institutions by such publications as U.S. News & World Report, which in 2013 named Mercer as the No. 2 Best Value in the South. I already knew all of this. It wasn’t like I ripped off the previous three sentences from the University of Mercer webpage after watching the game.

            If this doesn’t bust everyone’s bracket, I don’t know what will. Who would have guessed that Mercer would outplay a Duke wire to wire. Especially when this is one of the most talented teams that Coach K has coached.

Game #1 Oklahoma vs. North Dakota State University

            I would say that I am fearful that the state of North Dakota is in a full fledged riot over the fact that North Dakota State University became the first school in the state to advance into the second round of the tournament, were it not for the fact that I believe that the state of North Dakota isn’t actually a real place. (Honestly have you ever met a single person that has been to North Dakota?  Show me a man that has been to North Dakota and I will show you someone who has been brain washed by the United States government).

Besides the fact that state of North Dakota is a sham, this truly was one of the best games that I have ever watched. Everything that you could want in a basketball game was encapsulated in forty-five action packed minutes. You had a traditional powerhouse in the NCAA sports facing a no name underdog, a high scoring affair, a star that struggled, 11 lead changes, a freshman stepping up to seize the limelight, and a big-man who chose to attend his school because of their contribution to the egg industry.

While the Bison of North Dakota dominated the first half and had an eight-point lead at halftime, the Sooners managed to quickly make it a game in the second half. With 18 minutes of regulation left to go, the game turned into a back and forth slug fest between.  Lawrence Alexander's three point shot with twelve seconds left evened up the score and the two teams were headed for overtime.

Overtime was just as exciting. One would have assumed it would have been all over for North Dakota after their best player was kicked in the face and then thrown out of the game after committing his fifth foul. I was convinced that North Dakota State had nothing left in the tank, but at the moment of greatest despair  Carlin Dupree step up and make the biggest shots that the Dakota’s have seen since those the Massacre at Wounded Knee.

In conclusion, this game had almost everything you could ever have wanted. A big lead blown, a second half shoot out, a big three point shot to send things to overtime, a seemingly insurmountable task of replacing your best player with a freshmen who has played a handful of minutes throughout the year, and that same freshmen beating those odds to deliver the state of North Dakota its first win in the NCAA tourney. Really the only things that the game was missing were players who were could spell the word cat, fans that possessed a full set of teeth, and an "S" on the end of the word Bison.  

(the majority of The Bison Cheerleaders are attractive... In the same way that that one super white trash girl from your high school was attractive. You knew she was hot, but no one would have ever heard you say it because she was a redneck.) 

Mourning Wood