D_Carey's Blog
Posted Monday, April 11, 2011 05:50 PM
Things may be getting really bad at the University of San
Diego.
The frisky West Coast Conference squad has some former
members that may be guilty of committing the ultimate sports crime: fixing
games.
Former assistant coach Thaddeus Brown, who coached at USD
during the 2006=2007 season and former players Brandon Johnson and Brandon
Dowdy have all been indicted by a federal grand jury for a myriad of chargers, including
conspiracy to commit sports bribery.
The federal indictment indicates Johnson took a bribe and
influenced the outcome of a game in February, 2010. In January 2011, it also is
alleged he influenced someone on the team last year to affect several more
contests. Johnson is one of the best players in recent history for San Diego, amazing
1,790 points and 525 assists during his career.
Dowdy, who transferred to UC-Riverside and played there from
2008-2010 is alleged to solicit someone to affect the outcome of a game at the
school this February.
Do you believe the charges? Any idea what games were the fixed ones?
Posted Monday, March 28, 2011 06:48 PM
So after a guinea pig named Buttons claimed first place in
Yahoo last year, it looks like it will be a tight race coming down the stretch
in ESPN’s Bracket Challenge this March.
Only two people out of 5.9 million entrants on ESPN.com
correctly picked a Final Four featuring Kentucky, UConn, Butler and VCU. Talk
about an upset. Only 192 brackets picked both VCU and Butler to make the Final
Four. Total, just 0.6 percent (or 36,732) had Butler in the Final Four, and a
mere 0.1 percent (or 5,791) had VCU making the national semifinals. But not
many had VCU playing to cut down the nets. Of the fans who picked the mid-major
semifinal, 112 of the 192 have the Bulldogs making a return trip to
Championship Monday.
So those are the people who don’t have a shot bracket yet.
Personally, my bracket is toast. However, a victory by UConn
would all but assure me a few hundred for finishing second in my scorer’s pool.
BOOM.
How is your bracket looking? How many Final Four teams did
you pick?
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Posted Sunday, March 20, 2011 09:39 PM
Right now it has to be Matt Howard of Butler, right? He had 15 points and five rebounds and the put-back with no time left to beat Old Dominion. Two days later, the forward had 16 points and six boards and drew a crucial late foul which led to his game-winning free throw against top-seeded Pittsburgh.
If not him, Kemba Walker has to be under strong consideration. Walker had 33 points, six rebounds and five assists in a methodical win over Cincinnati. Against Bucknell, he had a team NCAA Tournament record 12 assists as he chipped in 18 points. Oh, and he also is a perfect 20-for-20 from the floor.
And how could we forget about Jimmer Fredette? He entered the NCAA Tournament leading the country in scoring at 28.6 points per game. But he has been even better as he knows his team needs him to make a deep run. In an opening victory over Wofford he notched 32 before dropping 34 in a blowout of upstart Gonzaga. He has been off the court for a mere minute combined in both games and has a total of 13 assists – more than he notched in his four previous games combined.
Who is your MVP so far? Who has helped you cash tickets?
Posted Sunday, January 30, 2011 10:46 PM
The oddsmakers sure thing Duke is still the team to beat.
SBG Global has the Blue Devils valued at +280 to cut down the nets this season. That’s not a terrible value for a team that many thought could go undefeated this year and looks poised to make easy pickings out of the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference. But after the team took a huge beatdown to St. John’s in New York City on Sunday, who’s to say this is the best team in the land?
Well, most other team’s aren't nearly as highly valued as the Blue Devils. Undefeated Ohio State is listed at +450 and appears to be the class of a very physical Big Ten. Kansas comes next at +900, and has a very good chance to finish the conference play and the Big 12 tournament with no more than three losses.
A few dark horses at good value include streaky Villanova at +1800, a strong Pittsburgh team at +1200 and one of my favorites – Washington at +2800. The Huskies are dominating the Pac 10, are a great rebounding team and can play physical, but also know how to get up and down the court and have one of the top offenses in the nation.
Do you think Duke is still the team to beat? Where do you have your money?...
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Posted Wednesday, January 19, 2011 10:47 PM
First, let’s get two things out of the way: Duke is arguably the top team in the country and I realize that the Atlantic Coast Conference has won five national titles since 2000 – Maryland in 2002, Duke in 2001 and 2010 and North Carolina in 2005 and 2009.
What I am saying, is that this league is terrible from top to bottom this year and recently has been more top heavy than Dolly Parton.
Know what this league is? The really hot girl who surrounds herself with ugly friends to make herself look hotter. Duke is looking beautiful. Wake Forest? Definitely the fat friend.
Ken Pomeroy has the ACC ranked fourth – way behind the Big Ten, Big East and Big XII – and the bottom teams in the league couldn’t be much worse. North Carolina State (105 RPI), Virginia (130), Georgia Tech (143) and Wake Forest (257) are abysmal. But let’s not let Maryland (90) or Clemson (91) off the hook either. Heck, have you seen the JV-caliber schedule being played by Virginia Tech (75) and Florida State (67)?
How will this league help each other reach the NCAA Tournament when I see almost no quality wins to be had in the league? You better beat Duke to make the big dance. HT: Florida State.
Miami (33)’s best win? West Virginia.
Boston College (34)’s? It’s victory over Texas A&M will be tempered by losses to Harvard, Rhode Island and Yale. Hell, BC might not be the best team in the Ivy League.
North Carolina (21)’s? It’s two-point win at home over Kentucky is ...
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