This is the end (for now)

Yes, blog buddies, the blog is going to go on hiatus for a little while.  I know, I know, you are all upset and ready to riot, but I urge you to keep your emotions in check.  We will be back before you know it.  With the school year coming to end, and the college hoops season long over, there isn't much else to right about at the moment.  Plus, I have to concentrate on finals and trying to graduate eventually and not finding a job in this awesomely awful job market.  If I come up with some interesting things to say, I will put them here.  Otherwise, enjoy the summer, good luck on finals, and I will get with you all in the fall.

Looking Ahead

Now that the college hoops season is over, it is time to start looking ahead to what is in store for Syracuse next year.  Rick Jackson will probably be the only major contributor to leave since he is a senior, so the team should have their core group intact for a run next year.  Kris Joseph is in line to become the next senior leader on the team, with Scoop and Brandon Triche also needing to play bigger roles.  With a year of high-level competition under his belt, Fab Melo now knows what is expected of him if he wants to see the floor more, and hopefully he will show up in shape and ready to work next season.  The player I am going to be keeping my eyes on is C.J. Fair.  That dude went hard every minute he was on the floor and is a scrapper who is freaky athletic for his size and crashes the boards with reckless abandon.  I am sure coach Boeheim was impressed with his play and will increase his minutes.  The team has an exciting freshman class coming in, with the highly touted and number 1 rated center Rakeem Christmas headlining the class.  Christmas is a talented shot-blocker who, along with Melo, should be able to cause problems at the rim for just about any team.  I would say things are looking up for the team, and with the NFL lockout already in full swing and an NBA lockout looming, all eyes might be on the campus hardwood come next season.

An Abysmal Finish

Wow, what an end to the college basketball season.  That title game was atrocious wasn't it?  I guess congratulations to UConn for beating a team in Butler that didn't even shoot 20% for the game.  That is supposed to be our national champion?  They barely got to 50 points and they are supposed to be considered the best team this year.  What a farce.  Both women's teams in the title game the next night scored over 70 points.  This is the nature of college basketball now.  It is just a diluted product with all of the one-and-done players heading for the NBA.  It isn't any team or coach's fault, there aren't many great players around the country since they all leave so early.  It doesn't make me like the sport any less, I just accept that be basketball isn't going to be as good.  It is still way more exciting than the pro game though because they players are all playing for pride instead of paychecks.  Don't get me wrong, I still will root my ass off for Syracuse, but if I want to see great basketball, I will tune into the NBA, where the playoffs will be starting in about a week.

stupid youtube

ok, apparently Youtube embed codes don't work on blogger, so here's the link to that video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtW8DjYNi0

And then there were four

The Final Four is set.  We have Connecticut, Kentucky, Butler, and perhaps the biggest surprise of all, Virginia Commonwealth.  Butler is making its second straight Final Four appearance, and Virginia Commonwealth made it after many said they didn't deserve an invite to the dance at all.  They took that "nobody believed in us" mentality and rode it all the way to Houston.  As much as I hate to say it, I think UConn will be cutting down the nets this year.  They are on an incredible run and haven't lost a game since the beginning of the Big East Tournament, which was nine games ago.  Kemba Walker is playing out of his mind right now and can get his shot any time he wants.  In college basketball, one dominant guard can take you a long way and that's what UConn has in Walker.  They also have coach Jim Calhoun who has two National Titles under his belt.  I certainly won't be rooting for them to win, I just think they have the best chance to do so out of the four that are left.  I don't really have much else at the moment since I'm still looking for a direction to take this.  To keep your interest, here is a video of why trampolines and basketball just don't mix.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RqtW8DjYNi0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 

All Danced Out

Yes, unfortunately the Syracuse season ended far earlier than I would have liked.  I thought the team was just hitting its stride and starting to play really well.  The young guys were also starting to contribute more and were no longer playing like freshman.  Alas, only one team can win it all, and like 67 other teams we will have to say "maybe next year."  But the thing is, now I need an idea for a direction for this blog until that time comes. I was thinking about doing just basketball in general, but I want something a little more exciting.  Any ideas in the comments would be greatly appreciated.  In the meantime, here is a sweet video of Blake Griffin's latest dunkface.  And it shouldn't have been a charge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvyelLWnDMo

Going Dancin'

Tournament time is upon us.  To me, it is the unofficial start to spring which comes with nice weather, melting snow, and girls wearing more revealing clothes.  It also means Syracuse is making the push to a national title, and they are off to a good start after handling Larry Bird's alma mater, the Sycamores of Indiana State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  They call it the second round now because of the expanded field, but I say nuts to that, it is still the first round and the first four games were useless play-in games.  Anyway, I kind of knew Syracuse wouldn't have much trouble when Indiana State started four guards against all the trees the 3rd-seeded Orange rolls out.  Rick Jackson continued to show that he got snubbed from the All-Big East time by pouring in 23 points.  They couldn't handle him in the paint.  Scoop hit a few 3's in big spots when we needed a bucket, but Brandon Triche kind of no-showed for this game and only played 28 minutes.  The biggest surprise was the play of C.J. Fair off the bench.  This guy is fast becoming one of my favorite players on the team because he plays bigger than he is and crashes the boards to grab every rebound he can.  Next up is a Big East battle against 11th-seeded Marquette who upset the 6 seed Xavier in the second (first!) round.  Marquette won the regular season matchup but in the Tournament everything changes.  Coach Boeheim has been around the block a few times and I'm confident he will have his guys ready to play.