Apologies to my loyal readership for the tardiness of this post. I spent most of the afternoon between a walk-in clinic and a dentist’s office, then had to travel cross-town, which is impossible during rush hour. So here I sit, at 8 pm over a bowl of clam chowder, offering you a possibly brief post about this weekend.

First, Oscar got it right. Needless to say, I was a tad nervous that Juno was going to win Best Picture or worse, Ellen Page Best Actress. Neither of those things happened. I finally saw Michael Clayton prior to the ceremony and was shocked that Tilda Swinton won Best Supporting Actress. In the clip that they showed when reading the nominations, George Clooney steals the scene, presumably her best. I thought Amy Ryan was great in the underrated Gone Baby Gone. While her character, a coke-head mother from Southie, probably didn’t resonate with audiences because she was so hate-able, she played it well. Also, to the woman from “La Vie en Rose, ” (which I won’t even pretend to have seen or know anything about) kudos. Also, Jon Stewart was very funny; more hit than miss. A good show all-around.

Saturday’s Memphis/Tennessee game was more worthy of the title of “Heavyweight Fight” than the actual fight taking place at Madison Square Garden. The first four minutes of that game have no parallel this year in college (or pro, but that’s a given) basketball. Shot-for-shot. JaJuan Smith’s 26 foot three, instantly matched by Antonio Anderson’s 3. The game slowed down; it had to. The first half was controlled well by Memphis, who kept Tennessee playing at a slightly slower pace and kept Chris Lofton in absolute check. The second half became the most compelling war of attrition I have maybe ever seen in a basketball game. Late in the half, at every whistle, you had a player hobbling to the bench. Just a classic game. Sadly, it came down to Memphis’ lack of free throw shooting prowess, which I fear will inevitably do them in. I have never liked Memphis, however, I finally respect them and hope they stick around for a little while in the tournament because they’re such a tough matchup for every team in D-I basketball.

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge Memphis freshman Derrick Rose’s game. At one point in the second half, Rose looked like he was going to die on the court (only a slight exaggeration). However, Rose carried Memphis in the second half and kept them in the game with great pull-up jumpers and senior-decision making, from a freshman no less. I haven’t been impressed with Michael Beasley and OJ Mayo and Eric Gordon nearly as much as I was with Derrick Rose’s second half Saturday night. That said, I think he should still stay at Memphis for another year to better season himself and develop some type of personality (as I don’t think he has any). But for now, kudos.

Cutting it short today. I’ll be back in solid form tomorrow.

Game O’ The Day: Texas @ Kansas State. Huge game for the Wildcats. Must win in fact. They’ve fallen off the radar in the Big 12, especially with the Baylor loss Saturday. Texas is wildly overrated in my eyes and not deserving of a 1 seed as some prognosticators have indicated. K-State gets the win they need tonight, behind a 30+ point performance from Beasley. Wildcats beat the ‘Horns 78-66.