College Basketball Time!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, it's been CBB season for a while now, but we're behind the times here. First off, let me say this: Duke is soft. Not as soft as they have been in recent years, but they're still soft. - Anyone who watched their game against Wake Forest should know that Wake should've won by a lot more; they shouldn't have needed a last second lay-in to pull off that win. They held Duke to 33% shooting from the field, 18% from three, and had nine blocks in the game. They were outrebounded by Duke 45-39, but the Demon Deacons controlled the pace of the game throughout. Were it not for a number of missed free throws down the stretch, Wake wins that game comfortably. I will say this about Duke, though; they're tougher than they've been the past few years. Gerald Henderson has grown into a playmaker for them, and Kyle Singler can rebound with the best of them. However, they have two problems: they're not very tough on the inside, and they don't have guys who consistently step up for them outside of Singler and Henderson. Singler scored 22 points last night, but did so on 21 shots; Wake contested every shot in the paint (and along the perimeter as well), and down the stretch, they grabbed defensive rebounds to limit Duke's offensive opportunities. The second is that Duke is essential a two man team in tough games; talk about guys like John Scheyer and Greg Paulus all you want, but they were nowhere to be found last night. Duke mounted a comeback because of Henderson and Singler; it was a shot by Henderson that tied the game at 68 with 9 seconds left, and it was Singler's rebounding that allowed them to climb back into the game after Wake had clearly established momentum. If Duke is going to go deep in the NCAA touranament--which I don't think they will--they're going to have to get tougher in the paint. You can't let Al-Farouq Aminu and James Johnson control the paint on defense like they did. You can't give up easy layups at the end of the game like Duke did, either.


- Florida's been here before. After stomping Georgia last night, Florida is 18-3, and 5-1 in conference. At this time last year, Florida gave up a double digit lead in Knoxville against Tennessee, and lost by more than 20. They finished the year 21-11, missed the NCAA tournament, and made the NIT semifinals before losing to UMass. Obviously, the Gators are looking to improve this year, but in a lot of ways, this is the same team that missed the big dance last year. Much like Duke, Florida is soft on the inside; they're weak in the paint, and they live by the perimeter game, particularly the three. If their shots aren't falling, it's hard for Florida to win games. A plus, however, is that the team is a year older and wiser. Several players have admitted to looking ahead to the tournament during this same point last year. The lessons of missing the tournament seem to have taught them to not get complacent. Most important, though, is the growth of Florida's players; guys like Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons have grown, and freshmen like Erving Walker and Kenny Kadji, have been able to step in and make an impact on the team. Nick Calathes, however, is the most important piece of this puzzle. He was good as a freshman last year, but he has been outstanding this year.

His FG% is up this year dramatically; he has improved from being a 42.6% shooter last year to a 52.5% shooter this year--on the exact same number of shots per game. This means that with the same volume of shots, Calathes is simply become better at shooting. He's also taking better shots; he doesn't seem to force the issue nearly as much as he did last year. Having a solid supporting cast has helped, too; Chandler Parsons has started to improve after a rough beginning to his year, Alex Tyus has stepped his play up, and other guys--Walter Hodge, Erving Walker, and Dan Werner--can all shoot from deep. The end result is that it becomes more difficult for defenses to key in on Calathes; focusing on him means that you take a gamble on letting another guy hit an open shot. Florida is decent from deep--the Gators shoot 36.6% from beyond the arc--but also hit 49.5% of their shots overall, good for 6th in the country in that category. In order to make the tourney, Florida has to keep up the good shooting; not rushed shots perse, but they have to continue taking good shots when they get them. Calathes has done an exceptional job of passing and creating for his teammates this year, something he'll need to do if Florida wants to knock of Tennessee on Saturday. If they do, it'll be a huge confidence booster for a team looking to close out the year on a strong note. With ten games left this year, Florida plays:

at Tennessee
South Carolina
at Kentucky
at Georgia
Alabama
Vanderbilt
at LSU
Tennessee
at Mississippi State
Kentucky

I think we need to win at least 6 of those game in order to make the tournament; the SEC is down this year, and the conference might get three bids if it's lucky. Personally, I think Florida, Kentucky, and LSU are going to be those three. From this schedule, I see Florida dropping games to LSU, Kentucky (on the road), and maybe Tennessee (at home). Mississippi State has a shot given their size in the paint, but they're a very inconsistent team. Overall, I think the Gators close out the stretch with a 7-3 record, which would put them at 25-6 overall, and should comfortably place them in the NCAA tournament.

Andre' 3000: Top Ten Emcee of All-Time?

At the very least, I think a case can be made for him.

There are obvious--at least to me--choices for such a distinction. Those guys are:

Jay-Z
Common
Kool G. Rap
KRS-One
Rakim
Nas
Ice Cube
Big Daddy Kane
Tupac

After these nine, I'd say that it gets murky. Cases can be made for guys like Scarface, Ghostface, Masta Ace, and even someone like Canibus. LL Cool J, despite not having put out a truly good album in over decade, still deserves to be mentioned in this group. However, I think Andre Benjamin is the most intriguing emcee because he has been one of the few who has been able to completely adapt himself to the changing hip-hop landscape. Jay, Nas, Cube, and the like are more elder statesmen than artists for me; they make their music regardless of what's going on in the mainstream. Others, like 'Pac and Rakim, aren't putting out albums. Others still--like Uncle L--have either tried to go mainstream and failed or--like 'Bis--existed so far beyond the scene that their music never even registered on the radar. I'm emphasizing the mainstream scene here because part of what constitutes a hip-hop legend is being able to set trends and influence artists alongside being skilled. Jay isn't a legend just because he made Reasonable Doubt; he's one because he dominated the scene for those "seven summers." 'Pac isn't on this list just because of "Me Against the World," but because he may have been one of the most influential musical icons in any genre of music, not just hip-hop. Given this, I think that Andre' 3000 may be that next Jay-Z in that he has successfully fused his skill level with mainstream success. Alongside Big Boi, the two formed Outkast and became known as one of the best groups in hip-hop's history. Now, with the two growing more apart, 'Dre has slowly, but surely, made his way back into the mainstream. Whether it be on the remix to DJ Unk's hit "Walk it Out," a remix to Jay-Z's "30 Something," or more recently, John Legend's single "Green Light," Dre has appeared on a number of tracks in the past couple of years. More importantly, though, his guest shots have been good; he's chosen his spots wisely, and he's been effective in those spots. Check out his verse on Big Boi's "Royal Flush" for instance:

Styles will change. They say change is dang-erous
As a King standing on the terrace
While his partner pointing up at the riflemen
Coward shooter, never know when your life will end
Then live like there ain't no 'morrow
And if one come then this the motto
Now I put message in bottle
You go to the nearest beach and open your car door
And walk to the place where the sea meets the land
Yeah, it's easier to run the street than walk in the sand
Hey, I'm talking young man. As if chalk in my hand
I will take y'all little ass to school
It's cool when the kids call me Sunny, the hood calls me Stacks
The B's call me honey, Hollywood calls me back
Crack and I have a lot in common
We both come up in the 80's and we keep that bass pumping
That's a nega-tive comparison, embarrassing
Unfortunate that if you come up fortunate the streets consider you lame
Ha, I thought the name of the game was to have a better life. I guess it ain't. What a shame
I don't slang. Never slung but I'm one with the slum that has a name well fitting
Plenty cheese getting. No wonder why they call it the trap
So watch your tail and I'm not kidding
The rats and mice will give advice, they say, "you can paint and draw
Get out of here. Go show them that we're more than slanging raw."
That's when I broke into my Big Rube impression
And I tried to enlighten but that night I learned a lesson
That the morals that you think you got go out the window
When all the other kids are fresh and they got new Nintendo Wiis
And your child is down on her knees praying hard up to God for a whopper with cheese
Do you B) hit the street hard with a flair
Or do you A) go to school for heating and air?
Dare make an honest living or make a crooked killing
Or do a bit of both until you're holding on a million?
Brilliant. You got one foot in, one foot out
You put your left foot back in and then you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey til you turn your life around
That's what it's all about. 3000 out.

Besides being cogent, it's a damn good rhyme. Check out the internal rhymes interspersed throughout his verses, and the way he stresses his words at certain points in order to create end rhymes ("Dang-erous/terrace" and "nega-tive/comparison/embarrassin"). Technically speaking, it's easily a 10, which is even more admirable given that Raekwon and Big Boi drop good verses themselves before Dre gets on the mic.

His work with Outkast needs no explanation; that alone would at least get 'Dre into the discussion for being a top ten emcee. However, in terms of solo success, I'd say that he has to put out an album or two to show that he can truly stand on his own. Right now, he's got the title of "Best Guest Shot Artist," but he's got to have some solo work to place him in the company of guys like Nas, 'Pac, and Cube. For now, though, he's still the best emcee working not named Chamillionaire.

Utah Gives the BCS a Middle Finger

Big time.

They've sacked John Parker Wilson seven times tonight, stuffed the run, and kept Alabama completely off-balance on both sides of the ball. Give the Utes credit. They're going to finish this year as the only undefeated team in the country, and they won't even finish in the top three unless Texas loses to Ohio State. They've shown that non-BCS conference teams can hang with the Big Six. Anybody still making excuses for this farce of a bowl system is kidding themselves. A playoff is the only way to pick a college football champion.

The New York Jets Didn't Like Brett Favre Much

First, Thomas Jones sounds off about Favre's three interception performance against the Dolphins:

"The other day, the three interceptions really
hurt us. I mean, that's just reality," Jones told the radio station. "If I were
to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's OK,' that's not reality. ... I don't like
it, I know everybody else on the team doesn't like it. If somebody is not
playing well, they need to come out of the game," Jones told Hot 97 FM. "You're
jeopardizing the whole team because you're having a bad day. To me, that's not
fair to everybody else. You're not the only one on the team. So when you get to
the wire and somebody is just giving the game up, I mean, it's just not
[fair]."

Then, an anonymous Jets player discusses the team's attitude towards Favre as well as Favre's own distant attitude:

"A veteran Jets player, quoted anonymously by
Newsday, described Favre as a "distant" teammate who, when at the Jets' practice
facility, spent his down time away from teammates in an office specially
designated for him. 'There was a lot of resentment in the room about him. He
never socialized with us, never went to dinner with anyone,' the player told
Newsday."

And another:

"Later on Thursday, the Newark Star-Ledger quoted
an unnamed player as saying 'it's the quarterback throwing the ball all over the
place. And he didn't suffer any repercussions. He kept doing it. People said
[coach] Eric [Mangini] called him out in meetings. I didn't see it. Eric treated
him like he was Brett Favre. A lot of guys didn't like it.'"

First, let's talk about Jones' comments: who goes to Hot 97 for a football interview? Who asked the questions, DJ Kay Slay?

Seriously, though, Jones has a point: a guy who plays as badly as Favre did should at least be chastised if not benched. However, the Jets would've been in an untenable situation had they benched Favre; starting a guy who hasn't played a down all year--Kellen Clemens--would not have gone well, either. Let's make no mistake, though: Favre's poor play did hurt the Jets, and his poor play during the entire month of December cost the Jets a playoff spot. The fact that Thomas Jones is saying this is important, too; he's not some backup player looking for some media attention, he's the Jets' best player on offense and a Pro-Bowl caliber tailback. As one of the leaders of the team, the fact that he came out and said this is a big deal because it says that he--as well as other players--felt as though Favre hurt them more than he helped them down the stretch. As for the anonymous players, I'll say this: I'm not a fan of anonymous player reports. I think they create dissension amongst the team and can divide the locker room. However, is anyone really surprised by the comments? Favre's been distant and anti-social for years now; remember his less-than-selfless attitude towards Aaron Rodgers while he was still in Green Bay and how it wasn't his job to make sure Rodgers got any better? It shouldn't be a shock that Favre was detached from the team, or that he didn't socialize with any of the other players. Additionally, it shouldn't be a surprise that a coach was overshadowed by the mystique that is Brett Favre: the gunslinging risk-taker who can pass a team out of a game just as quickly as he can win a game for one. It's the same mystique that's caused the media to gloss over Favre's horrendous yearly performances for four out of the past five years, and the same one that's caused the media to dismiss his leading the league in interception thrown for the second time in three years. Seriously, if any other quarterback in the league played as badly as Favre has, do you think they'd be getting a free pass? If Michael Vick threw almost 100 interceptions in a four year span like Favre has, do you really think those "he just wins" arguments would get any real traction? Hell no. So why all the slack for #4? If the guy's playing badly, then call it for what it is. He threw 22 picks this year, and the Jets missed the playoffs. What more do you need to say that the guy had a bad year?

As for Mangini, if he was overwhelmed by Favre's stature, then he should have been let go; that dynamic is eerily reminiscent of the one that's going on in Dallas, where coach Wade Phillips is being bossed around by two personalities in Tony Romo and Terrell Owens. If the coach can't control the players, then he's useless; if there's no accountability for the players, then what the hell is the coach doing? If Mangini didn't have a leash in Favre, then why bring the guy in? More to the point, why bring in Favre? And this media obssession with the guy has got to stop. There's simply no excuse for trying to justify a guy leading the league in interceptions like Favre has for two out of the past three years. Poor play is poor play, no matter who the player is. Period.