Microcosm of the Whole Season

The last game of the Orange's dismal season was a good summary of the season as a whole.  Syracuse started off dominant, flying out to a quick and impressive lead, but like so many games this season, they let the lead slip away and lost the game in the most heartbreaking of fashions.  Much like their loss to Pitt a couple of weeks ago, where Syracuse blew an 11-point lead in the final three and a half minutes, the Orange were up by a 22 points at one point, yet ended up blowing the game in the final couple of minutes.  Yes, once again, Syracuse had to break my heart and leave me waiting for next season. 

Mason vs W&M

I can't tell you how happy I was when I saw that William and Mary had beaten VCU in the CAA semifinals. I knew that VCU was going to be George Mason's biggest roadblock in winning the CAA title and going back to the tournament for the first time since their magical Cinderella run in 2006. I never feel confident about games, but I was confident in this one that Mason would pull it off, and they did, dominating W&M in the second half to win 68-59. With this win, GMU punches an automatic ticket to the big dance and here's to hoping they can pull off another couple of miracles.

I hope they all stay

I will be quite happy if Syracuse doesn't lose their freshman core of point guard Johnny Flynn and forward Donte Greene. Even though the Orange didn't have the greatest season this past year, their two star rookies showed a lot of potential and are both in contention for Big East rookie of the year honors. Although most people assume Flynn will stay, there are just as many people who think that Greene is definitely a goner as evidenced by the amount of "Don'te leave" shirts you see scattered around the Carrier Dome. Although most predict Greene will be a top-10 pick when he declares for the draft, I believe that for his own good, and for the good of the team, he needs to stay. Greene needs a couple more years of seasoning and a couple more years under Coach Boeheim in order to be the best pro he can be.

One and Done

It's getting very frustrating seeing all these one and done players in college basketball. I suppose if you're a fan of the NBA, then it's nice to see these players that are so highly touted coming out of high school and entering the pros as soon as possible. Unfortunately for me, I am a college basketball fan, and I like seeing the talent stay as long as possible, it makes the game that much better. I do enjoy the new policy that doesn't let players jump right from high school to the pros, but now I'm teased by seeing what some of these players can do and watching them for a season, only to watch them leave after a year. I probably need to start watching the NBA more.

The Garbage-man

The difference between watching a game on television and actually being there in person is a phenomenal one.  I was lucky enough to score some tickets to Syracuse's last home game against the Marquette Golden Eagles and being there in person gave me more of an appreciation of the little things that you notice certain players do, the most notable player being No. 12, Kristof Ongeanat, a Belgian import from a junior college in California.  Ongeanat's stat-line wasn't notably impressive, but by no means underwhelming, he had 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  What impressed me about Ongeanat were the little things that he did, the things that didn't show up in the box score, watching the game, only four rows back, I felt like Ongeanat altered every shot that Marquette put up, he seemed to me like he was everywhere, his hustle was incredible.  I was not the only one that noticed it either, I could hear the chatter of the crowd, and the positive things that they were saying about him, it all showed when Ongeanat stole the ball, drove the length of the floor and then slammed it down, drawing a foul, the place went crazy.  If I had been watching the game on TV, I would never have noticed the little things he did and I would not have appreciated him as much as I did after the game.

Brett Favre retires

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, Brett Favre has officially announced his retirement from football.  He leaves behind a legacy as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterback that has ever lived.  Not only did he set almost all the notable passing records this past year, but he had one of his greatest statistical season in 2007 at the age of 38.  Favre set a career high in completion percentage and posted the third best passer-rating of his career as he led the Packers to the NFC championship game against the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.  Unfortunately, the last pass that Favre will probably ever throw was intercepted in the overtime loss.  The fact that his last pass was intercepted is perhaps appropriate as Favre was always known as one of the last true gunslingers of this era.  That last pass takes nothing away from Brett Favre's legacy, though, as he is a former Super Bowl champion, a three time MVP, and has thrown for more touchdowns and passed for more yards then any other quarterback.  I don't need to tell you this, but Brett Favre is a sure-fire hall of famer and deserves to enjoy his retirement.

I refuse to believe it!

Sorry, I refuse to believe that UFC is replacing boxing and I'm getting pretty tired of hearing it!

As probably one of the only true boxing fans left on this earth, and admittedly knowing almost nothing about UFC, I will never, never admit that boxing is giving ground to UFC.  UFC is a fad, and like any fad, it will eventually die (hopefully), and even if it doesn't, I will always be loyal to the sport I've loved for years.  Nothing can compare to the drama of boxing, one needs to only witness the Israel Vasquez and Rafael Marquez slugfest from last weekend to understand how superior boxing is to UFC.  Nothing can compare to the heart that those two 122 pounders showed last Saturday as they pounded each other for 12 heart-stopping rounds.  Plus you will never see a UFC fighter that reaches the level of popularity that fighters like Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya reach.  Boxing has more stories then UFC will ever have and that is evidenced by the amount of high-quality sports writers that have written about the sport.  Yes, in my opinion, boxing will always be superior to UFC.