Why upsets are bad for college basketball

Get ready for Tournament expansion because it’s going happen if things don't change fast.

Northern Iowa, Cornell, Washington and Saint Mary’s are all still dancing while Villanova, Georgetown and Kansas, the No. 1 overall seed, are all finito.

The truth is this is an awful year for Cinderellas. Every time we see Northern Iowa center Jordan Eglseder’s ugly-ass teeth that means the dudes that want to destroy our tournament are winning.

Look, I love upsets as much as the next guy but not if it means 65 will get pushed up to 96.

You think the Jay Wrights and Jim Boeheims – two big supporters of tourney expansion – are any less vocal after the first three days of the Madness? Their argument only strengthens with every high seed that falls.

If Nine, 10, 11 and 12-seeds can make it to the Sweet Sixteen, doesn’t that mean there are all sorts of teams playing in the NIT that could do some damage as well?

I'm not buying it but conference directors are. 

Boeheim, the Orange’s coach, says he’s old enough to remember the same type of resistance to tourney expansion in the 70s and lastly in 1985. Wright will only be happy once every team from the Big East qualifies for the Big Dance.

If you’re like me you think that while every year there are good teams that don’t make the NCAA Tournament, it doesn’t mean we should add 31 more teams to the mix.

All of a sudden I’m beginning to sympathize with college football defen... [More]

Donaghy playing the blame game

So Tim Donaghy wants us to believe he never fixed any games even though he’s a degenerate gambler?

Really?

So the thought of a little whistle here and a little non-call there during games never entered his mind when money was on the line?

I’m not buying it and I don’t think anybody on Covers is either.

He’s telling us a bunch of half truths to try and dilute his part in the scandal.

Do superstar calls exist?

Of course.

Do NBA refs let players get away with traveling?

All the time.

Are there some officials that have inappropriate relationships with coaches and players?

You betcha.

But that doesn’t mean Donaghy should be absolved.

He’s like he’s saying, “I’m not the one you should be worried about. NBA Commissioner David Stern is the one rigging everything.”

Gimme a break.

Donaghy brags that it was “easy money” picking winners because of his inside information. But James Battista, the mobbed-up dude Donaghy was feeding picks, says he wasn’t interested in any selections on games Donaghy wasn’t working.

“I got tired of losing those,” Battista told HBO’s Bryant Gumbel. “I told him, ‘Just give me the games you’re working.’”

Donaghy maintains that he called clean games and tells everyone that the FBI and NBA have confirmed that. Of course, according to the New York Post’s Peter Vecsey, the FBI and NBA never talked to Battista.

Pete Rose told a similar story. Fir... [More]

Hockey fever spills into NHL season

Count me as one of those guys who’ve been infected with the hockey bug because of the Olympics.

As a member of a hockey-fanatic nation, I’ve been forced-fed the sport since Wayne Gretzky first popularized the mullet.  

Normally, I’d rather watch professional bowling than an NHL regular season game, but Olympic hockey numbed my usual resistance to the puck.

I tuned into a Flyers-Lightning game last week and was pleasantly surprised by the end-to-end excitement. Even though the Lightning, who’ve become my favorite team because I’m hoping I can catch a playoff a game when I go to Tampa in May, got blown out by Philly, I saw just how good TB’s Steven Stamkos is.

If you look around the league you’ll find that almost every team is stocked with young, highly-skilled players.

I plan on watching as much hockey as a can over the next month so that I’m in a position to make some educated bets in the postseason.

Until then, here is my totally ill-informed Stanley Cup futures play: Buffalo Sabres +1400 at Betjamaica.com.