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"How's your bracket?"
The Question of the Day, as you total your picks over
the first 16 games. Me? Banner first day, with only
Bobby Knight denying me 16-0. (Day 2 jinx ...)
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
MAC. SMACK.
Mark McGwire never hit a home run as
hard as he is being smacked today.
His legal/p.r. strategy backfired -- badly. (Yes,
they're linked.)
"If a player answers no, he simply will not be
believed," McGwire said. "If he says yes, he faces
endless scorn."
And if he says nothing?!
(A fate worse than both.)
America wants to forgive him (frankly, in a way
that Barry Bonds won't get). All fans and media want
to hear is "I did something."
He can't join an "I never" game then
refuse to play -- and there was some sweet
redemption Kool-Aid being passed around:
Compare McGwire with Palmeiro, who went from accused
juicer to member of the steroids task force, darling
of the panel and reputation-reclaimer.
McGwire? Swung and whiffed.
Everyone, including McGwire, says "What about the
children?" The worst example McGwire could set is
evading any personal responsibility.
No money, fame, effort, policies or Congressional
intervention can fix that ...
... Or do as much good to begin repairing things as Mac
ending his outrageous silence and taking one ... not
just for the team, but for everyone.
Hearing: Players
We get it, we get it: McGwire doesn't
want to talk about the past. But how did the other
players do?
Palmeiro came off passionate.
(Nabbing a task-force spot!)
Schilling came off confident.
(Congress in hysterics.)
Sosa didn't have to say much.
(Low command of English rules!)
Canseco talked too much.
(Geez: Just say yes or no!)
Hearing: Pols
ESPN Classic Civics!
What I learned about politicians by watching
ESPN:
They're self-serving.
They're windbags.
Some ask awful questions.
They leave the room a lot.
And they do grandstand.
To non-fans, their outrage might have come across as
moral clarity; to sports fans who know better, they
looked more like ignorant hard-heads.
Hearing: Execs
Call me crazy, but I thought MLB VP Rob
Manfred did pretty well, considering he was being
constantly attacked with arguments so inflated you'd
think the questioners were on steroids.
Don Fehr also came across reasonably, in the
face of Congress' bludgeon-style interview technique.
News flash: He's a passionate representative of his
constituency. He puts duty over image, and that's
where he
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
UW-Milwaukee: Even if it was the 12-5 upset all SAW coming
UAB: After running past LSU, is a return to Sweet 16 next?
WVA: Kudos for NOT taking T.O. before last-gasp fastbreak |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Creighton: Found out what everyone knew about WVa
Alabama, Pitt, Iowa, Texas: Big names go down
UCLA: Baby Bruins can't handle TX Tech; my bracket suffers |
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breaks from his Congressional
questioners.
Meanwhile, Bud was Bud.
Sigh.
Hearing: Bunning
Memo to Sen. Bunning: Hank Aaron
did, in fact, hit more HRs in his
late 30s than his late 20s, contrary to your erroneous
testimony.
From 25-29, Aaron hit 202 HR.
From 35-39, Aaron hit 203 HR.
Bunning wasn't alone: Just Exhibit A of participants
throwing around unsubstantiated qualitative
analysis.
NCAA Coverage
Where a fan can see a 15-1 Thursday turn into
a busted bracket in the span of a single weekend.
Friday and Saturday preview coverage follows.
Friday Noonish (ET)
Schedule (Picks in bold):
12:15 7 Charlotte/10 N.C. St
12:25 5 Florida/13 Ohio
12:30 8 Minnesota/9 Iowa St
12:30 2 Okla St/15 SE LA
Big question: Can Florida avoid a first-round
flame-out?
Also: N.C. St. is a popular upset pick.
2:45-ish
Schedule (Picks in bold):
2:45 2 UConn/15 Central Fla
2:55 5 'Nova/12 New Mexico
3:00 7 So. Ill./10 St. Mary's
3:00 1 UNC/16 Oakland
Big question: How will SIU react to being a
favorite?
Also: Can bandwagonish Villanova avoid the
dreaded 12-5 upset?
7 p.m.-ish
Schedule (Picks in bold):
7:10 4 Syracuse/13 Vermont
7:10 4 L'ville/13 LA-Laffy
7:20 6 Wisconsin/11 No. Iowa
7:25 1 Duke/16 Delaware St.
Big question: Can the Ragin' Cajuns keep up
with Pitnio's Cards?
Also: Have you ever even seen Northern
Iowa before? (Then why did you pick them?!)
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9:45-ish
Schedule (Picks in bold):
9:40 5 GA Tech/12 G. Wash.
9:50 5 Michigan St/12 Old Dom
9:50 3 Kansas/14 Bucknell
9:55 8 Stanford/9 Miss. St
Big question: Will we see TWO 12-5
upsets?
Also: How will KU look without G Keith
Langford?
Saturday's 2nd Round
No more "work" excuses:
(My picks in bold.)
1:10 6 TX Tech/3 Gonzaga
Don't screw me again, Knight.
3:20 8 Pacific/1 Washington
Is Pacific the new Gonzaga?
3:30 6 Utah/3 Oklahoma
How will OU handle Bogut?
5:30 12 UW-Milwaukee/4 B.C.
Where rubber hits road for both
5:40 9 Nevada/1 Illinois
Hey Illini: 'Pack no FDU
5:40 11 UAB/3 Arizona
Blazers faster than Wildcats
7:00 7 Cincy/2 Kentucky
Expect a defensive "Cat"-fight.
7:50 7 WVA/2 Wake
My bracket's biggest 2nd-rd game
Quickie Challenge
Update: 50 readers out of more than
6,000 total entrants had a perfect 16-0 first day,
leaving me tied for second with 297 others who also went 15-1.
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Mark McGwire:
He didn't admit to anything, yet ironically, he came
out of the hearings with a bigger image hit than
anyone.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Page 2 Invt'l |
| Shanoff's Bracket |
| NCAA scoreboard |
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| Friday NCAA Upset Watch |  12 ODU (5 Mich St)
| Today's version of UW-Milw
|  11 No. IA (6 Wisc)
| Iowa is the new hotbed
|  12 G. Wash (5 Ga Tech)
| Hmm ... unlikely
|  12 New Mex (5 Nova)
| Ditto
|  13 Ohio (4 Florida)
| | Gators upset in '04 by 12 |
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A Quickie glance at other sports news of the
day:
Kobe-Shaq II: No contest. Call it off. Throw in a
towel. It's not a feud when one guy (Kobe) and his
team get throttled so badly by the other.
In an omen of flakiness that doesn't bode well for
either side, the Giants signed WR Plaxico Burress. "NY
Media Meltdown Clock" starts now.
Bonds has second knee surgery; no timetable for
return. Giants GM Sabean: "This is a setback, and a
significant one."
Props to Fairleigh Dickinson, for giving every fan who
watched their game an entire 20-minute halftime to
fantasize about a 16-1 upset.
More hearings: After watching Tom Osborne, who else
wants to put his early '90s Nebraska teams (and
coaches) under oath to ask about "enhancers"?
And an extra happy birthday message to Mrs. Quickie,
who will ring in a new year watching her Gators in the
Tournament.
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