Not for the Squeamish

DISCLAIMER: As the title implies, today's post is not for the faint of heart. If you are disturbed by graphic descriptions or visualization of injuries, then you should probably skip this post and come back tomorrow when this blog returns to a more "family-friendly" nature.

With the disclaimer out of the way, we can get to the heart of this post. Yesterday we witnessed one of the most gruesome injuries that I have ever had the displeasure to see. Kevin Ware broke his leg in Louisville's game against the Duke Blue Devils. I made a post about it on Facebook and one of my friends (Elizabeth "Breezy" Brown) suggest that I write something about bad sports injuries. That got me thinking and today I've decided to give you what I think are the most gruesome injuries in the five major American sports: football (college or pro), basketball (college or pro), MLB, NHL, and NASCAR  The injuries are arranged by severity.

NASCAR: I think it's hard to argue that the worst injury in this sport would be the crash that killed Dale Earnhardt. While several other have been killed in wrecks during a race (Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin, among others), Earnhardt was the sport's biggest star. Earnhardt was instrumental in bringing the sport from small scale interest, mostly in the South, all the way to a national audience. When Earnhardt was killed during the 2001 Daytona 500, it sent shock waves throughout the sport, and NASCAR has yet to fully recover.

"Honorable" mention goes to the aforementioned Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin crashes.

Football: Along similar lines of the Earnhardt crash, the injury that I chose for the football category was sustained by Tulane DB Devon Walker. Many players have sustained very serious injuries playing football. It's a very violent sport, and on rare occasions, lives are forever altered by the decision to play football. I chose this injury for two reasons. The first reason is that, although several other players have been paralyzed during a game, this is the first one that I have heard of where the players' heart actually stopped as a direct result of the hit. The second is for the fact that it happened to a kid. He was just twenty-two years old and in the prime of his life. To have such a serious injury at such a young age is the reason he is my choice for the worst football injury.


"Honorable" mention goes to the knee injuries suffered by Marcus Lattimore and Willis McGahee, and the broken leg suffered by Joe Theismann. I have never seen legs bend like that, and I hope I never do again.

NHL: Slightly less severe in nature than the previous two injuries, my choice for the worst NHL injury has to be the one sustained by former Buffalo Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk. During a game in 1989, a player crashed into the net, and in doing so, his skate came up and severed Clint Malarchuk's carotid artery. How on earth Clint survived this injury is beyond me, but he did and has gone on to live a full life and is now an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames. How that man can stand to be anywhere near a hockey arena is also beyond me.

I honestly do not follow hockey, so I'm not well-versed enough to have an "honorable" mention for the NHL.

Basketball: Basketball isn't a sport that is known for it's physical nature. The worst injuries usually amount to sprained ankles or torn ligaments or muscles. Bad injuries in their own right, but not all that gruesome  Then there's the injury that Kevin Ware suffered in the Louisville/Duke game. I didn't witness the injury live, but my curiosity got the better of me and I found the replay on YouTube later that day. I almost wish that I wouldn't have. I very nearly gagged at the sight of it, and they didn't even show the worst of it. The injury he sustained caused six inches of bone to protrude from the skin. I shudder even as I write that.

As I said, basketball isn't known for it's injuries, so I don't have an "honorable" mention here either.

MLB: In closing this post, I've decided to go a slightly different, lighter note with the MLB category. During a spring training game in 2001 Randy Johnson, then pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks, threw a fastball against the San Francisco Giants that, somehow, struck and killed a dove that had the misfortune of coming between the ball and home plate. An explosion of feathers and one dead bird later, the game eventually continued, and terrible sports fans everywhere have been laughing ever since.

"Honorable" mentions here go to Jason Kendall breaking his ankle in a game in 1999 and to Chris Snyder who fractured a testicle in 2008

For those of you who haven't seen footage of the injuries, check out the following links:

• NASCAR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Tu1fBV6rs
• Football: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61byLLQT61c
• NHL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR-wA4SmbO4
• Basketball:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vAP20OeeSI
• MLB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4QcEWV7ANM

Mea Culpa...Sort Of.

When I woke up this morning, I fully intended to write this post apologizing to the Big Ten for underestimating them. I have been saying for awhile that the Big Ten was over-rated by many coming into this NCAA Tournament. To the conference's credit, they have only lost one game thus far and have four teams in the Sweet 16, with another three games yet to be played.

Seven teams in the Sweet 16 is impressive for any conference, but I'm not ready to say that I was wrong just yet. When you look at their games, Michigan had a tough test against a relatively unknown (to most anyway) South Dakota State team, lead by their phenomenal shooter Nate Wolters. Minnesota came up against a UCLA team who had lost their best player to a broken foot on the final play of their conference semifinal. Indiana was a number one seed, so they were all but guaranteed to advance. Illinois played a tough game against a good Colorado team, so I will give them some credit there. I was not expecting that win, as Colorado had a better RPI and conference record, and I was wrong there. Ohio State was a second seed, which should be an automatic though it hasn't been in recent years. That being said, I don't think they deserve much credit for beating Iona. Wisconsin DID lose their match against an Ole Miss team that was one of the last teams to make it into the tournament. Michigan State is a tough team led by an all-time great coach in Tom Izzo, and no one should be surprised any time they make a run in the NCAA tournament.

Indiana and Ohio State won their games today to advance to the Sweet 16, but both of them should have lost. To their credit, they didn't, but both of them should have. In the case of Indiana, it took a gutty performance from their star player Victor Oladipo in the final minutes of the game to overcome a Temple team who just looked better than them today. Indiana had no answer for Khalif Wyatt, who went for 31 points for the second consecutive game. In the case of Ohio State, I did not see the game myself, but from everything I've heard and read, they had help from the refs. There were many moving screens by the Buckeyes that were not called (no surprise, Iowa State never gets the benefit of the doubt in these situations), and there was a blown call down at the end. All this, and Ohio State still needed a three pointer with 0.02 seconds left to grab victory from the jaws of defeat.

We'll have to see what the outcomes of the Kansas/UNC, Minnesota/Florida, and Illinois/Miami games are, and I may change my stance, especially if Illinois is able to pull off the upset over Miami. But so far, statistically speaking I was wrong, but if you actually look at the games, I really don't think so.

Have Mercy

As many of you already know, I watch the NCAA tournament pretty religiously. It's my favorite time of the year (yes, I rank it even above the Super Bowl). There's nothing better to me than filling out a bracket then sitting down in front of a TV screen and laptop to watch every single game. That being said, a couple of games this year have me wondering if we can, in the words of Jesse Katsopolis, have mercy.

The first blow-out loss of the season was a short handed Akron team versus VCU. Prior to the conference tournament Akron had their best player suspended, then as if that wasn't enough, the team was decimated by a flu bug just hours before their first round match-up. These two factor led to the Zips being handed a crushing 46 point loss. The Zips actually managed to lose by more point than they were able to score (42).

The same could be said for our next unfortunate team, the Montana Grizzlies. They ran up against a devastating Syracuse team, coming off of a heartbreaking loss in their conference championship game to the overall number one seed Louisville Cardinals. The Montana team didn't have the bad luck of being riddled by illness, they were just severely over-matched and could only muster 34 points to Syracuse's 81.

These two games have forced me to ask, can we institute some sort of "mercy rule" in these games? At some point, shouldn't we say that enough is enough and let these schools leave with some sort of dignity? The NCAA tournament is supposed to be a point of pride for these schools, something they can brag about during their next recruiting season. But how proud can you really be coming off of being blown-out by nearly 50 points?  And this isn't even mentioning the 68 point victory for the UConn women in their first round match in the NCAA Women's tournament.

One is an Accident...

...Two is a trend. It has happened to me again. Once again I have lost a member of my Final Four. This time it was the Big East that I overestimated. Georgetown lost today in their first round game (second round technically, but we all know that those first four games are really just a play-in). The number 2 seed went down to the 15 seed, Florida Gulf Coast.

FGCU didn't just beat the Hoyas of Georgetown, they looked downright impressive in doing so. If they hadn't been beating a team I had picked to go to the semi-finals, I would even go so far as to say that I would be rooting for them. They played with so much passion and pizzazz, it was hard not to get into it and cheer for them. If they play this way, it's not hard to see them beating San Diego State. In all fairness to FGCU, this shouldn't come as a terrible surprise to anyone. They challenged themselves a lot in their non-conference schedule (read as "made a lot of money for their program"). They beat a team in Miami who would go on to win the ACC and become another 2 seed in the tournament. They also played a tough game against yet another eventual 2 seed in Duke. All this in only their second year of eligibility. Things are looking up for this program, do not be surprised to see them making noise again next year.

Another of the upsets of today, Ole Miss beating Wisconsin, is one of the few that I actually got right. I've been telling people for a long time that the Big Ten is over-rated, and the Badgers reaffirmed that for me today. Marshall Henderson, for as cocky and in your face as he can be, is a pretty exceptional shooter. If he's on his game, he alone can bury a team. Not only is he a shooter though, he is also a leader. When he is playing well, he has the ability to make everyone around him better. I would not be at all surprised to see the Rebels go on to beat their next opponent, LaSalle, who pulled a big upset of their own today in beating a very talented Kansas State team.

What we should take away from the "Round of 64" is that, ultimately, your seeding doesn't matter in this tournament. It's just a matter of time before I'm posting about a 16 upsetting a 1 and killing my brackets yet again.

Seeing Crimson

Seems like it happens every year, the big upset that no one saw coming that blows up most everyone's bracket. Last year it was the second seeded Missouri Tigers losing to the 15 seed Norfolk State team. It was also the second seed Duke Blue Devils losing to the 15 seed Lehigh. This year, the 14 seed Harvard Crimson took down the number 3 seed New Mexico Lobos, and with it, my bracket.

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I had picked New Mexico as my dark horse team to make the Final Four. I thought they had been put into a pretty soft bracket and that they would not have much trouble getting past an Ohio State team that plays in an over-rated Big 10. I also didn't think they would have a difficult time upsetting the number one seed, Gonzaga, because I don't believe that the 'Zags (or anyone from the West Coast Conference for that matter) have played anyone of note this season and don't have the stamina or strength to hold up against a team from a stronger conference. I certainly didn't see them getting upset by a team who had NEVER won a game in the NCAA tournament prior to today. A team who, before the start of the season, had their two best players kicked out of school because of a cheating scandal. Boy was I wrong apparently. That is the last time I let people talk me into believing that the Mountain West Conference is a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, that wasn't the only upset of the day to do some serious harm to my bracket. Though not to the extent of the New Mexico upset, I also had the Oklahoma State team advancing to the Sweet 16, not getting upset by the 12th seeded Oregon Ducks. I wasn't convinced that the Pac 12 was anything of note this year, and as much as I didn't like Oklahoma State this year. I watched them several times in the regular season and was never impressed by them at all. In fact, at many times I wondered whether they would even make the tournament. In spite of my misgivings about them, I inexplicably picked them to win two games in the tourney. Why I picked this way, I honestly have no idea.

Only one thing is certain to me at this point. No matter what happens in the rest of the tournament, I will certainly not be winning my pool. Congrats to my friends Jordan Paulson and Nate Jordan, you have picked a better bracket than I have.

Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first upset of the March Madness season. And the real tournament hasn't even started yet. Last night the Kentucky Wildcats, who did not make this year's NCAA tournament a year removed from winning the National Championship, lost by two points to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT. This is the first time since the tournament expanded in 1985 that a team won the National Championship one year and then lost in the first round of the NIT the very next year. How does something like this happen?

If you ask me, the NBA is to blame for this, namely the LeBron James' of the Association. Ever since LeBron made the jump from high school to the NBA (yes, there were others before him like Kobe and Kevin Garnett, but James has popularized the choice), every kid who excels in high school thinks he's going to be the next LeBron and goes to the NBA as soon as he is eligible. To their credit, the NBA has made an attempt to do something to rectify the situation, now requiring that players be at least one year removed from graduation before entering the NBA Draft. While their heart seems to have been in the right place, this has made the college game a one-year free-for-all every season. John Calipari recruited a phenomenal team last year. They ran through the regular season, their conference tournament, and cut down the nets at the end of the season. What was his reward? His top six players declared for the NBA draft and he was forced to recruit an entirely new team with the hopes of repeating last year's success. He again recruited a top-flight class, but with the injury of Nerlens Noel coupled with the strain of having to mesh together entirely new pieces, the Wildcats failed to live up to expectations. And the rest, as they say, is history.

So what can be done to improve the college game and make sure something like this doesn't happen again? I say that the NBA should adopt the rule that the NFL has established. In the NFL, a player must be three years removed from his high school graduation before he is eligible to enter the NFL draft. This ensures that both the college game and the NFL are putting out the best products that they possibly can. Are there players in college that are ready for the NFL after only one or two years? Certainly there are, but there are FAR more players who think they are, but aren't. Those players would get drafted on their promise, never living up to it and the game would suffer. This is what happens in the NBA today. All these kids enter the draft, not ready for the grind and physicality of the pro game, they get sent do the D-league, and rarely live up to what their potential said they could be. Had they been forced to stay in school for a year or two more, they could have developed their game, worked on their conditioning, and EVERYONE would be better off in the long run.

Madness? This. Is. ...No, Madness Works

Well, it's that time of year again. The day when we all furiously fill out bracket after bracket, all in the hopes of picking the correct Final Four and having bragging rights over all of our buddies. And, inevitably, almost all of us will have our brackets destroyed by something ridiculous like a 15 seed upsetting a 2 seed, or a 9 seed from a small little town in Iowa that no one outside of here has heard of (speaking from experience... more than once, unfortunately). With that in mind, I figured that my post for today should be my run-down of the teams that I have picked to go to this years' Final Four in Atlanta.

The first team I have is the overall number 1 seed, Louisville. I struggled with this pick longer than any of the other picks I made throughout the entire bracket. I really wanted to have both Duke and Louisville in my Final Four, but thanks to the selection committee, they will meet in the Elite 8. Being forced to pick only one of them, I have to give the nod to Louisville in part because of their excellent performance in the Big East championship game, but also because of the fact that Duke in recent seasons has a tendency to under-perform in their biggest games (see this season's ACC tournament or last season's NCAA tournament as examples).

For Louisville's opponent in the Final Four, I have the New Mexico Lobos coming out of the West bracket. Steve Alford has done a tremendous job down in New Mexico, and very few people have acknowledged this. The Lobos finished at the top of their conference in both the regular season and the conference tournament. They only lost five games for the entire season, while playing the second toughest schedule in the nation (Contrast that with Gonzaga, who had a SOS of 76th). New Mexico isn't a traditional power-house, and the Mountain West conference isn't one of the "Big 6" so their successes are generally ignored by the majority of people. Coupling the exceptional play of the MWC this season with how much I don't trust the Gonzaga team (as good as they are) to go through the bracket has me pushing the Lobos through in a close game versus those 'Zags.

Next up in the national semi-finals I have Georgetown. My reasoning for picking Georgetown is much the same as my reasoning for picking Louisville over Duke, the tendency to choke in big situations. Kansas has a history of choking in the NCAA tournament and killing my brackets (specifically their loss to UNI a couple years back). So I must admit, this is a choice made largely because of my own personal beef with the Jayhawks. I don't necessarily like the Georgetown Hoyas to make it to the Final Four as much as I really DON'T like Kansas' chances of making it. The only other team that I see having a chance to come out of this region might be Michigan, but I ultimately decided to take Georgetown over the Wolverines.

The final team in my Final Four is Miami. For most of the season I thought that the Hurricanes were the best team in the nation. They became the first team ever to beat both Duke and North Carolina by more than twenty points in the same season. They won the conference outright in the regular season and won the conference championship. I still think that they deserved to be a 1 seed over the Indiana Hoosiers. So, for these reasons, I have the Hurricanes rounding out my bracket.

Well, there you have it folks, my choices for the Final Four. Just for good measure, I will add that I have Louisville winning the National Championship. I have them winning a tough, close game against the Miami Hurricanes. Anything you disagree with here? Feel free to discuss!

Let the Madness Begin

With all of the relevant conference tournaments over (save for the Big Ten), it's time to sit and wait for the selection committee to tell us who they have deemed worthy of this year's tournament. There are going to be a lot of bubbles burst in the next few hours, and many teams feeling they should have gotten a higher seed than they did.

The committee's tough decisions begin with the number one seeds. There are seven teams worthy of the one-seed line, but only four spots available. So, with this in mind, I thought I'd take my stab at predictions and give you who I think should be the four number one seeds when the brackets come out at 6pm EST.

The number one overall seed should be Louisville. They proved last night in the Big East championship that they are the most worthy of the overall top slot. They should get the nod over their only real competition for the spot, Kansas, because they have fewer poor losses than do the Jayhawks. I can't give the number one overall position to any team that has a loss to Texas Christian on their resume. This loss, plus the style with which Louisville came from behind and thumped Syracuse in the second half of their game puts them head-and-shoulders above Kansas, in my mind.

The second number one seed is Kansas. As I just said, they can't be the number one seed with a loss to TCU on their resume, and were it not for a few questionable calls in their two contests against Iowa State, they wouldn't be in the conversation for any number one seed at all. But that's the nature of the game, sometimes calls go your way and sometimes they don't. They went Kansas' way in those games, and they deserve to be rewarded for winning the Big 12 against a tough Kansas State team.

Third we have Gonzaga. The team that was a mid-major sweetheart at the beginning of the 2000's, the Zags have turned into a perennial powerhouse and are on track to get their first number one seed in school history. It feels weird to me to give them only the third number one since they are ranked number one in the AP poll, but I feel like playing in the West Coast Conference really hurts their case, especially when it comes conference tournament time. Both the Jayhawks and Cardinals play in significantly tougher conferences and deserve to be placed ahead of Gonzaga.

Last we have three teams battling for one spot. Miami, Duke, and Indiana are all worthy of the final number one slot. Indiana was ranked number one for a good portion of the year, but they were knocked out in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament, and have a bad loss versus Minnesota on their resume. Duke had a lot of losses in the middle of the season, including a 20+ point loss to another team in this conversation (Miami), but all of those losses were without the services of Ryan Kelly, and they are clearly one of the top four teams in the nation with a healthy Kelly. Miami won their conference outright for the first time in their teams history and they were the first team to beat both UNC and Duke by 20+ points in the same season. However, they played one of the worst non-conference schedules in the entire NCAA and have losses against Indiana State and Florida Gulf Coast on their resume. For this reason, I think that I have to give the final number one slot to the Duke Blue Devils. Duke has less "bad losses" on their resume, and are clearly a Final Four caliber team with Ryan Kelly in the line-up.

Whatever happens when the brackets are released, one thing is certain: It will be madness!

All Good Things Must End (part two)

Tonight's conference championship game between Louisville and Syracuse provided a fitting end to what has been the greatest conference that college basketball has ever seen. Syracuse jumped out to an early lead. James Southerland set the conference tournament record for 3-point attempts made, Louisville came out lethargic, and Syracuse ended up going into halftime with a 35-22 lead over the fourth-ranked Cardinals. The momentum was in their favor and by all accounts it looked like Syracuse was going to close out the Big East with the outright lead in conference championships. Rick Pitino had other ideas though.

The soon-to-be Hall of Fame coach did what he has done so well over his illustrious career (if we ignore that little stint he had in the NBA with the Boston Celtics), make adjustments and light a fire under his team. Their mainly defensive-minded center Gorgui Dieng came out on fire in the second half, knocking down some key shots and making beautiful passes to the open guy. Peyton Siva and Montrezl Harrell woke up from their first half funk and both added supreme performances. Harrell led the team with 20 points and Siva added 11 points and eight assists, winning the Big East Tournament MVP in consecutive years. He joins Patrick Ewing in 1984 and 1985 as the only players to accomplish this feat.

When it was all over, Syracuse had come out the loser, by a margin of 78-61. Louisville made a clear claim to be the overall #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. But, more than anything, the fans are the clear-cut winner here, having witnessed a glorious end to the conference that has given us so much over the years. The conference of Patrick Ewing, Pearl Washington, Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Emeka Okafor, and Carmelo Anthony may be over, but it certainly didn't go out without a bang. Goodbye Big East, you will be missed.

Getting The Shaft

It's March, and the Madness is in full swing. Each year around this time, everyone starts talking about who beat who last night, who hit the game winning shot, and who is going to be in the tournament. Pundits like the famed "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi make their predictions for seeding, and every year there is a team who is projected far lower than they should be. That team this year? The Iowa State Cyclones.

Iowa State has had a year of significant ups and downs, and their record does not reflect just how good this team has been. The Cyclones rank in the top 5 in the NCAA scoring 80.0 points per game, 23rd in the nation in rebounding (38.9 per game) and 14th (16.2 per game) in assists. They played a very strong non-conference schedule, including games against Cincy, UNLV and BYU. They have wins over an 11th ranked Kansas State team and a 13th ranked Oklahoma State team. All this has culminated in Iowa State having a projected seed of 11 in the Midwest bracket according to Lunardi.

Why such a low seed for such a solid resume? My thought is that Iowa State gets the shaft. Seven of their ten losses have been by ten points or less, including two heart-breaking loses to Kansas. Neither of those loses should weigh heavily on the minds of the committee. If not for one lucky shot and one blown call, ISU wins BOTH contests. Two more of their losses, to Texas Tech and the first match-up versus Oklahoma State, were also decided by questionable calls by refs who consistently give every team the benefit of the doubt versus ISU.

NCAA selection committee, it would be an injustice if these mistakes were to cost the Cyclones the chance to be a high seed in the upcoming tournament. Though, with our recent history as a high seed, maybe you'd be doing us a favor.

All Good Things Must End

Today, it has become official. The Big East that we have all grown to love is dead. And, with the departure of the so-called "Catholic 7", many great rivalries die with it. I understand that the NCAA is a business, but that business is exactly what is killing college sports. College sports across the board have never been more profitable, but if the environment keeps on its current path, that market is going to dry up, and sooner rather than later.

Greed is killing college sports. With the break-up of the Big East, one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports is going to be tossed aside. And for what, a few extra millions? Is that worth throwing away all the history, all the tradition? At what point does it become detrimental to the universities involved, to the fans, to the NCAA as a whole? Tomorrow will be the final match-up between Syracuse and Georgetown as conference rivals. Sure, they MIGHT get together and play a game in their non-conference schedules, but the rivalry as we know it is dead. The schools that have produced so many stars (Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, etc) will never get the chance to square up and go at each other for the Big East title. They will most likely never play another meaningful game against each other. All this just so Syracuse can pack up and go to the ACC in hopes of making more money in their football program.

When will the fans say "Enough of this!"? When are we going to stand up for tradition? When are we going to come together as a collective and show the NCAA that money shouldn't be the end-all-be-all? If we don't stand up and take a stand right now, it won't just be the Georgetown/Syracuse rivalry that we lose. Today it's them, tomorrow it may very well be Duke/North Carolina. It could be the end of the "Civil War" match-up (Oregon vs. Oregon State). I implore any person reading this to think about what the landscape of college sports might look like if we allow these schools to make decisions with their pocketbooks in mind instead of the happiness of everyone who supports their university.