Weekend Recap

Over the weekend the Red Sox got swept by the Texas Rangers. I am not one of those people who freaks out after 3 games of a 163 game season. I am however, one of those people who pouts about one of the most anticipated seasons in the history of Boston sports starting with a big fat donut.

So Instead of ranting about the Sox, I am introducing a new piece to www.thefatwhiteguy.com. I present, for your reading enjoyment, a weekend recap.

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The experts told us that this year’s NCAA tournament was going to be wide open. The lack of any truly elite teams, which most blamed on all the “one and done” players who jump to the NBA after their freshman season, meant it was anyone’s game. I don’t think any of these so-called experts had a final four featuring VCU, Butler, UCONN, and Kentucky. I certainly didn’t and in my pool, only one person had 2 of those teams in the final four.

VCU, whose mere presence at the big dance had most blow-hards screaming about the ineptitude of the selection committee, has been doing The Sprain for weeks now. It has been fun to watch the underdog Rams drop 3’s all over everyone’s face and to hear about how Shakka Smart will be coaching a Commonwealth free sideline next year.

The Rams ran into a Butler team that played great D down the stretch and stole the Rams crutches, making it impossible to do The Sprain and rendering them lame.

Butler, with coach Brad Stevens, who has said he won’t be leaving the Bulldogs to go home with a hotter chick who finally noticed him after his performance on the dance floor, advanced to their second straight National Championship.

The Bulldogs will face a UCONN team that survived a rock fight with Kentucky that saw neither team wanting to make baskets as the clock wound down. The Wildcats shot 33.9%, from the field and forced a premature three point attempt with plenty of time left. It clanged off the rim, effectively ending their season.

UCONN once again rode Kemba Walker, who led the Huskies with 18 pts, 7 assts, 2 stls, and 1 blocked shot. Walker got some help from his friends, including Mike Lamb (13 pts), who has emerged as one of the best players in the tournament and Alex Oriakhi (10 rebs). Keep your eyes peeled for a preview on the Championship game a little later today.

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Tiger Woods still thinks he is the best golfer in the world. Does he still think he is married as well?

There is a fine line between confidence and delusional, and Tiger is flirting with it, sending it dirty text messages, and stalking local Applebee’s trying to sleep with it.

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The Knicks reached .500 (38-38) and clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2004. Meanwhile the Nuggets, who dealt super star Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks, won their 6^th straight against a Lakers team that has been the best in basketball since the All Star break.

The fact that Denver is sitting comfortably in the 5^th spot in the West, without Anthony, while the Knicks backdoored their way into the playoffs with him, says a lot more about the other players involved in the trade than it does about Carmelo. Removing him from what had become a contentious situation in Denver, and replacing him with a handful of players who like to get up and down the court and seem to be gelling as a team, has been addition by subtraction. George Karl deserves a lot of credit for keeping his team together for months while they hung in Carmelimbo and even more credit for getting the most out of his team once Anthony took his talents to Broadway.

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The Celtics continue to struggle since the Perkins trade and have slid into the 3^rd spot in the East. This, if the season ended today, would have them facing Philadelphia in the 1^st round. If they stayed in the 2^nd spot, since Derek Rose isn’t letting anyone catch the 1^st Bulls, they would face the Knicks.

On paper it seems like this would be a better matchup. However I think the Celtics can beat either the Knicks or the 76ers and should really try and get back into 2^nd. They need to have home court in a potential second round matchup with the Heat. Boston’s fired up crowd could play center, since the C’s don’t really have one, and would be able to get into the collective head’s of an emotionally fragile Miami team.

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The UCONN women’s season ended just short of the National Championship game. The potential to have two UCONN teams in the finals was apparently too good to be true. Geno Auriemma seemed to sense his team’s vulnerability when he said that no one was afraid of this year’s Lady Huskies.

You have to question this as a motivational tactic. I think Auriemma is a great basketball coach but he always has top notch talent doesn’t he? So telling your team, and the country, that you don’t think they are as good as they were last year is like telling a young girl she isn’t as pretty as her older sister, right before she leaves for the prom. You can’t drop a bomb like that and then be surprised when she goes out, gets drunk, crashes the family station wagon, and ends up in a Motel 6 with someone named Axle, or Diesel.

In other women’s basketball news…on second thought, other than UCONN’s perennial domination, I don’t really know anything else about women’s basketball. Do you?

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All sorts of news from the NFL Draft as well. See for yourself at www.ultimatenfldraft.com and follow us on Twitter @ultnfldraft.

—-Corey