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Congratulation to the Jayhawks. And congratulations to Bill self for winning despite nearly throwing the game away by inexplicably switching to a zone defense. For 28 minutes Kansas had been playing terrific defense. Derrick Rose was ghost, and the entire Memphis offense consisted of Chris Douglas-Roberts taking difficult jumpers. Kansas was wearing them down and had the game in control.

So what did Self do? He decided he had to contain Douglas-Roberts and went to a Box-and-1. It contained Douglas-Roberts, but it also let Derrick Rose play 4-on-4 against a zone. It woke Rose up and he took over the game. Fortunately for Self, Memphis’ free throw shooting woes (remember those?) caught up with them.

Other thoughts…

—This is the 2nd straight year all four Final Four teams could be considered “great basketball teams.” I can’t remember the last time that happened. It’s like somehow by not letting teenagers play in the NBA, David Stern has raised the level of play in college basketball.

—Kudos to Billy Packer for calling out Memphis for repeatedly running high screens for Derrick Rose. Kansas would just double Rose and because the screener wasn’t a shooter, there was nothing Rose could do to create a good shot. Fortunately for Memphis, Self decided to change defenses.

—I loved the post-game comments from John Calipari. He took blame for not having his team ready for overtime, while also admitting they did all they could and believed the game was won. Rarely do you see that kind of candor in that situation.

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Rumors have been circulating for weeks that the NBA has been considering raising the minimum age in which players can declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft. Well, it appears that in the next couple of days NBA commish David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand are going to announce that the minimum age, set at 19 (or after one year of college) in the collective bargaining agreement of 2006, will be raised to 20 (or two years of college). A seeming victory for those protecting the integrity of the game (and certainly a victory for college basketball, who can now hold on to their stars another year). But I have to say, while Stern might have the best interest of the NBA at heart, this really is unfair to all those young, talented athletes who are forced to enter college.

Forced to enter college? Unfair? Well, yes. Consider the fact that the only people this is affecting go to college as a springboard to the NBA. Why go to college? The only reason president Brand cares about this issue is because the NCAA markets and makes money off of these athletes. He does not care about the well-being or education (scoff!) of these athletes. These athletes have to sacrifice millions of dollars for the benefit of the NCAA. Considering the risk of injury, you might potentially cost these athletes their career.

For those talking about the sanctity of the NBA, what about the sanctity of college? Since when did college become a place you go to for a year, just to leave for your professional ambition afterwards? These kids are training for the NBA, not for graduate school. There is no incentive to go to class, or be a productive member of the college community at all (sans the sports program). It is a waste of space and resources for these athletes to be forced to attend college.

How is it fair (or even legal) to deny someone who is clearly qualified for the professional level and millions of dollars in salary (not to mention endorsements) their opportunity? These people stand to make millions, and the NBA is telling them no? If a team is willing to take a chance on them, I do not see how an organization can deny them the ability to declare themselves for the draft.

People always bring up the issues of the sanctity of the game, how the integrity was being ruined by the influx of high school players. This is a way overstated excuse. Look at the drafts of the last five years. 2003-2005 were the last drafts in which high school seniors were eligible for the draft. The number of high school seniors taken in these drafts was 3, 7, and 9 respectively. Out of 60 picks each year. Less than 11% of all NBA draft picks. And 6 of these players were taken within the first 10 picks, meaning these were superstars without the need of a year in college (which only could have served to hurt their draft status). This is who the NCAA is targeting to get to stay in college. These are the superstars they want to exploit for an extra season.

In the two years post-collective bargaining (and the implementation of the 19 year old minimum), 6 freshman have been selected in the top 10 (1 in 2006, and 5 last year). This is a marked increase from the 4 freshman selected top 10 from 2003-2005. No one can deny that Oden and Durant were NBA ready after their freshman year (in the case of Oden, even more so.) All the NCAA is trying to do is take these freshman (some of whom would have left after high school), and force them to be poster boys for two years (in which these athletes could be making millions).

Finally, the attention that NBA draft receives for whisking away younger and younger athletes is greatly disproportionate to other sports. This is the breakdown of draft picks for the four largest sports:

NBA - 60
NHL – 211
NFL – 265
MLB – 1,453

Yeah. The NBA does not come within a 1/3 of hockey in terms of drafting young people. And let’s not mention MLB, which drafts 16 year olds from Curacao and high school seniors by the truck load. Like the NBA, the NFL has an age policy. The NFL is also full of 340 lb linemen who try and kill each other every day. The NBA is a finesse game where an 18 year old can dominate (hello, Lebron James). The NFL is too physical and big for high school seniors to come close to even competing, let alone dominate.

Instead of worrying about something more pertinent (like rearranging playoffs so we don’t have disproportionate talent in one conference, or teams slacking so they actually get lower seeds), David Stern is fixing a problem that does not exist. The number of people this affects is minimal… a handful of 18 year olds a year. For the NCAA and Brand this means millions (you saw the hype for Michael Beasley during tournament time… imagine if he could be in the tournament twice?). For the kids this rule is denying, it also means millions.

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Gregg Oden and Kevin Durant are no longer awaiting the winners of this year’s draft lottery, but hey, that’s no reason for Eastern Conference teams to not tank the end of the season.

Take a look at the standings. There are only two teams still trying to win. The Hawks—because they’re securing the final playoff spot, and the Celtics—because they don’t know how to relax and rest themselves for the post-season.

The rest of the conference could care less whether they win. The big battle is between Atlanta, Toronto, and Washington to not finish 5th and draw a matchup with Cleveland. On Wednesday the Wizards blew a 10 point 4th quarter lead and lost at home to Milwaukee. On Saturday the Sixers, who are the hottest team in basketball, lost at home to Altanta. Not to be outdone, the Raptors lost back-to-back games to Charlotte and New Jersey.

You can’t blame any of them. There are three Eastern Conference teams nobody wants to play. Cleveland, Boston, and Detroit. A team that finishes 5th will likely have to play all three of them. Finishing 6th or 7th means a team can play no more than two of them.

The teams at the top of the conference are similarly disinterested in winning. Orlando, Detroit, and Cleveland are all locked into their seedings. The Cavs only care about Lebron liking his new teammates, the Pistons are concerned with unleashing superstud Rodney Stuckey on the rest of the NBA, and the Magic are just sitting back and watching Dwight Howard dunk.

Finally, there’s the bottom of the conference, which is engaged in a much less publicized battle to land Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose. The good news is nobody can compete with Miami’s lineup of Blake Ahearn, Earl Barron , Chris Quinn, Joel Anthony, and Kasib Powell, and so the tanking hasn’t been too apparent.

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As it normally does after each controversy laden season, the NFL decided to tweak a few rules. What does it all mean? I shall tell you.

Rule change #1: No more force out

This is a rule change that had to be made, but mark it down now—it’s going to be problematic. The league’s goal is to remove judgment calls, but what will happen when a receiver jumps to catch a ball and the defensive back gets under him and carries him out of bounds? His feet never touch the ground. Was his forward progress stopped? Officials are still going to have to make judgment calls about that kind of stuff.

My other problem with this rule is it will effect the game way more than people think. Generally there’s only one to two force out calls each game, but that’s because defensive backs aren’t trying force receivers out. Now that force outs are legal I think we’ll see 5 to 10 force out-related incompletions each game. Passing attacks will suffer.

Rule change #2: Coin toss winners can defer to the 2nd half

Basically, the winner of the opening coin toss can now declare themselves the loser. If teams were rational, they would never choose to receive the opening kick. Second half possessions are more valuable. Teams should be trying to get as many of them as possible. I’d be shocked if Bill Belichick ever declines to defer.

Rule Change #3: Field Goals are reviewable

The Phil Dawson rule. I predict the first 10 field goal related challenges are upheld based on inconclusiveness.

Rule Change #4: No more 5-yard facemask

Overall, I have a problem with facemask penalties because the foul generally doesn’t affect the play. For example, an offensive hold can turn a sack into a touchdown pass. That penalty needs to be called. But a facemask turns a three yard run into a two-and-a-half yard run. A 15-yard penalty is not a fair price to pay, especially since 95% of facemaks infractions are unintentional.

It probably would have been better to outlaw the 15 yarders, but the NFL can’t do that because it send a bad message about acceptable violence. We’ll have to wait and see how this rule change plays out, but if it results in fewer overall facemask penalties, that’s a good thing.

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Ahh… after a couple of days it has finally set in. Baseball season is here. More so than any other sport, baseball elicits so many different emotions and memories. I first got into sports around the tender age of 8. This happened to be the summer or 1991, and the Atlanta Braves were poised to make history. A miracle season. Worst to first.

Wait; before you stop reading, this is not a diatribe about the greatness of the Braves. No, the importance of this summer is that this is when I fell in love with baseball. Falling asleep listening to Skip Carey and Don Sutton call a game. Running outside to my front lawn to see the fireworks over the stadium after a victory. Going to my first ball games with my dad, while he pointed out players and gave me history lessons about previous teams and players. I have been in love with the game ever since.

My enjoyment of baseball has evolved over the years. The strike of 1994 was devastating (hell, at least we got most of the season in). But then Big Mac and Slammy Sammy made us believe in the greatness of baseball again. And then steroids made us question everything we ever thought of the last 25 years. It has been a rollercoaster of an affair. But it is in affair that has pursued.

I still listen to baseball games on the radio, but now it is with a group of my buddies on a lazy and hot summer evening. Sitting by the pool, grilling some food. I still go to games, only now I can tailgate. I even make a point to see a game or two with the old man, just to hear him tell me stories of Ted Turner riding ostriches during 7th inning stretches in front of a paltry crowd at crappy old Fulton County Stadium.

So what I am trying to say is that baseball is not just an entertaining sport. It is a way of life. Watching opening day (or two or three) was not just about watching a game. All of a sudden I was filled with the anticipation of warm weather and a great summer. So baseball may have its problems, but it will always have a place in my heart.

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Moises Alou is either a liar, or a really mean guy. Five years later he reveals that he wouldn’t have caught the Steve Bartman ball!? Is he you serious? He couldn’t have said that right after the game? Or the week after? Or the year after? Or three years after? Alou clearly doesn’t understand how the normal psychology of human emotion and forgiveness works.

Most likely, Alou would have caught the ball, and still believes he would have caught the ball. But now he’s decided it’s about time to help old boy Bartman out. Good for you Moises. I guess. Perhaps next week you’ll forgive the kid who took your lunch money in 2nd grade.

As for Bartman, he probably wishes this whole thing would be left alone. He’s been vindicated—sort of—but now he also has to deal with everybody remembering who he is again. That’s not good. What is good is that Alou’s words have made it possible for Bartman to once again show his face and use his real name…a few years from now.

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Pretty good start for the Nats and their new stadium. Pretty, pretty, pretty, good. The second Ryan Zimmerman’s drive landed in the bleachers I could think of only one thing. The game was rigged. It was a set up. The Nationals winning their home opener on a walk-off home run by the face of the franchise? Nice try Bud Selig. I’m not falling for it. How much did the Braves get for agreeing to lay down?

The other notable thing about Zimmerman’s home run (and Chipper Jones’ nearly identical blast earlier in the game) is how quickly and easily the balls flew out of the park. Both were hit on a line, and both just seemed to hover for the last 50 feet of their flights. Neither ball would have made it past the warning track in RFK. Unless Sunday night was a fluke, a lot of home runs are going to be hit in DC.

My favorite part of the whole evening was hearing the local media, players, and Nationals personnel raving about the new stadium. It’s a nice stadium. It’s new and state of the art. That’s a fact.

But it’s clear that having to play in RFK for two years has the Nats thinking the new stadium is the 8th wonder of the modern world. “A batting cage in the stadium!!!! Holy cow!!!” So what if nearly every stadium built after 1980 has batting cages in it. “Multiple TVs in the clubhouse!!! What is this, Bill Gates’ house?” Not exactly, but the Nats did spend a few grand of the $600 million stadium bill to make the clubhouse more enjoyable.

I think it’s adorable. The Nats are like the poor little boy who’s grateful for his Playstation 2 while all the rich kids complain about their Playstation 3s. Or something like that. For now the Nats are just enjoying their new home and their time in first place. And they better enjoy it. The stadium won’t be new for long and the next time the Nats are in first place Barack Obama could be running for his second term.

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—Foget Luc Richard Mba a Moute and Kevin Love, last night’s game made it clear the key to the UCLA defense is Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook. Once both of them got four fouls the Hilltoppers started scoring at will. It means either they’re both great defenders, or they were prevented from taking their usual liberties with hand-checking regulations.

—How about that Xavier game? Thirteen lead changes in the last 10 minutes. Four more in overtime. Twenty-Three straight minutes of seemingly do-or-die possessions. This Xavier team has played more high intensity minutes than any team in the tournament. I was at their first round game against Georgia and the atmosphere was extremely tense for almost the entire 2nd half. Their 2nd round game was close throughout. And then you have this game. Who knows whether it will end up being good or bad for them. There is a chance it will lead to one of those “we can’t lose” mentalities and I think those are generally a good things (see: Wildcats, Davidson or Hiltoppers, Western Kentucky).

—It’s so hard to come back against North Carolina because they run the whole game. That’s what makes them dangerous. In order to come back from a 10+ point deficit a team needs to hit shots, get stops, and then run back the other way. Teams can’t do that against UNC because when they hit a shot the Tar Heels run right back at them. And UNC is better at it than everyone else. The pace becomes too frenetic, and the trailing teams runs out of gas before they can really push the ball up the floor.

The big question for the Tar Heels has been whether they’re a dominant enough offensive team to make up for their defensive deficiencies. That was the case in 2005. Right now I’d have to lean towards saying yes, but they still have three more games against three very good defensive teams.

—I hate to say this, especially after yesterday’s rant about cliches, but Tennessee just seemed soft to me. They got pushed around. Louisville just powered through the their defensive pressure. In hindsight it looks like Tennessee was simply the best team in a bad conference who was overrated because they played their best game of the season in their biggest game of their season.

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It’s official. The state of Tennessee does not want you gambling on the NCAA Tournament with furniture. Last December a Memphis furniture store held a promotion promising to repay customers for up to $1500 of furniture if Memphis won the National Championship. Not so fast…

Attorney General Robert E. Cooper issued an opinion last week stating that it is illegal for a business to conduct a promotion that requires a purchase when that purchase is induced by speculation that a person may receive partial or full rebate, depending on a particular team winning the NCAA tournament.

But wait, there’s more. The store now says Cooper approved the promotion before they went ahead with it. I predict in the end the only ones who get screwed are the consumers. Those poor, innocent people who just wanted something to tie the room together and were conned into spending extra in support of the Tigers.

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As Forrest Gump would say, sports and cliches go together like peas and carrots. Whether they come from a broadcaster, coach, or exceedingly glib journalist, you can’t be exposed to some athletic achievement or debacle without hearing a cliche.

So you can imagine my excitement when Devils coach Brent Sutter passed up the opportunity to blame Andy Greene’s struggles on “confidence,” and instead offered a real explanation.

“I’m not real big on that ‘confidence’ thing,” Sutter said.” ‘Why did a player not play well?’ Well, the first thing you always hear is about a lack of confidence. Maybe it’s a lack of other things, too…A lack of work ethic, maybe a lack of [practicing well], maybe a lack in other areas.

He’s right. There are a few exceptions (pitchers without confidence in their fastball will nibble and walk more batters, quarterbacks with no confidence will be afraid to throw the ball downfield), but overall, “a lack of confidence” is a bullshit explanation.

Who knows? A few more people like Sutter and someday there may actually be an intelligent public discourse about athletics in this country.

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