Really though, just fire him already. He committed an illegal recruiting act while already on probation. It may have been a minor misdeed, however, he’s a repeat offender. If someone shoplifts once, you might let it slide. When they shoplift a second time, practically the next day, you might raise an eyebrow or two. He’s supposed to be a leader of young men. He failed them. Let’s move on.

So, this post is coming late in the day, as we got an inch of snow and they canceled school in and around the District. Therefore, my roommate was present. Also, again, there’s not much going on.

Today’s post will be short. Tomorrow’s (In the Morning) Weekend Edition will be longer. I promise. I don’t want to give the impression that I’m starting to be soured on writing long entries, it’s just there’s not a lot of controversial stuff happening that I feel the need to analyze. However, some housekeeping:

1.) Candace Parker, who, if you’re an avid reader, you may have realized I have a non-man crush on, has announced that she will forgo her senior year of athletic eligibility at Tennessee and begin training with the U.S. National Team and head to the WNBA before it implodes. Parker is graduating this May. I see nothing wrong with her decision, other than I will probably not watch very much Women’s College Basketball next season. I honestly believe she’s better than 5% of the players in the NBA. I mean this. I would rather have Candace Parker than, say, Brian Scalabrine or Kwame Brown.

2.) Really, if you plan on going out tomorrow night after 8:59 P.M. you are not a sports fan. The bar will be there next week. The club, unless Great White is playing, will not burn down before next Saturday. Your friends will not disown you. Sit down tomorrow night in front of ESPN, at 8:59 P.M. and watch the College Basketball Game of the Season. I don’t care if your team is playing tomorrow night. Their game will not be as good as Tennessee @ Memphis. I will have my official pick tomorrow morning for this game, though I’ve already made it clear who I think is going to win this game.

3.) Last night USC had a great come-from-behind win against Oregon at home. OJ Mayo bounced back nicely with a 32 point performance. The problem with Oregon is simple: If they’re not making their 3’s, their not winning their games. No team can sustain that for either an entire season or the tournament. Also, USC can play a very pesky Triangle-And-2 zone defense (if you don’t understand that concept, just know it’s a tough defense to play, as you have to be athletic, but also a tough defense to score on. Memphis struggled against it earlier this season when they played USC) that can shut down the 3. I’ve said it now 3 times this week, if they get Daniel Hackett back for the tournament, they can go as far as OJ Mayo can take them.

4.) Finally, BracketBusters starts this weekend. My Game O’ The Day (#2) today is Davidson @ Winthrop. Two very good mid-major (though Winthrop is not nearly as good as last year’s quality club) teams from South Carolina. If you haven’t seen Davidson’s Stephen Curry (Steffen, not Steven) play, do so. He’s the son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry. He’s only a sophomore. My other non-Drake @ Butler highlight of the weekend is on at midnight tomorrow (in case you haven’t gotten your fix after Tennessee/Memphis). Kent State, better than you’d think traveling 2300 miles to the sticks of California to play Saint Mary’s, who I’ve also touted as a sleeper. The Gaels (St. Mary’s) bring an uptempo attack that Kent State will try to slow and, in the end, fail. Here are the rest of my BracketBuster Picks for the weekend in short form (We’ll look back Monday and see how much I really know):

Davidson over Winthrop
Utah State over UC-Santa Barbara
VCU over Akron
George Mason over Ohio
Oral Roberts over Creighton
Southern Illinois over Nevada
Drake over Butler
Valparaiso over Miami (OH)
Cleveland State over Marist
Rider over Cal-State Northridge
Bradley over UW-Milwaukee
Boise State over Siena
Saint Mary’s over Kent State
Illinois State over Wright State

We’ll see how well I do with that.

Game O’ The Day: Boston Celtics @ Phoenix Suns. The Lakers/Suns game the other night got all the hype nationally. I have no idea how the New England sports media is responding to this game, because, you know, I’m 500 miles away in a city that doesn’t care about sports like Boston does (not necessarily a bad thing). I think the Celtics, who really need to win a big game after losing their last two out West, will win tonight. Celtics get a much needed victory, 111-100.

Back tomorrow with my Oscar Picks (that’s necessary) and other things. This wasn’t really a short post. Sometimes, I even amaze myself.

Oh, and while Christopher Nixon is a better baseball player than me, “you know who,” he’s still a AAA baseball player. 🙂