Olympic Thoughts

Just watched us lose to Slovakia 2-1, despite outshooting them by ten, and a couple of things popped into my mind. First, Slovakia is now loaded with NHL talent. And I don't just mean NHL players, but NHL all-stars. Go up and down their roster, and right now on paper they're every bit as good if not better than the United States. Hossa, Demitra, Gaborik, Svatos, Bondra, Satan, Chara, and Visnovsky are all all-star caliber players. And that doesn't include Ziggy Palffy and Josef Stumpel, who would have been playing if not for injuries.

Second, we simply can't finish. We have a lot of great playmakers, but not too many finishers. The ones we do have aren't finishing. Gomez, Modano, Drury, and Weight are all terrific set-up guys, but Guerin and Tkachuk aren't getting it done. The rest of our lineup on offense is essentially a lot of good but not great players. The goaltending has been good, but even that's not as reliable as it's been in the past. This team is in trouble. At this point, the only way we get in is by besting Latvia in goal differential. We have a comfortable margin right now, and I can't see them passing us in that department, but if they get a fluke win over Russia, we're probably done.

In other Olympic news, Anonymous in a comment that has been deleted and resurrected at least three times now asks:

And on a side note, can any of our non-X-game athletes do something worth a damn this year? Bode? Out. Johnny Weir? Out. Women's hockey? Out. Michelle Kwan? Out (though Cohen should win a medal).

I'm glad you brought this up, Anonymous. Couple of things about this comment. First, you really gotta hand it to the U.S. When we realized that we couldn't compete in traditional winter Olympic sports like the biathlon and luge, well, we just made them add new ones that we could win. Problem solved! Old fashioned American ingenuity.

But the other problem is this: Most of those aren't sports. Sure, the boarder-cross is a sport, but half-pipe? Half-pipe takes a place alongside other Olympic non-sports like figure skating. No sport whose winner is determined by the subjective opinions of a panel of judges is a real sport. Are they athletes? Oh, God yes, they're tremendous athletes. But so are the perfomers in Cirque de Soleil. That's not a sport either. It's an exhibition. High school marching bands get judged and win medals too, but that doesn't make it a sport. For something to be considered a sport (by me, anyway), I need to be able to tell who wins by looking at some objective measure of performance like a clock or a scoreboard, and what it shows should roughly align with what I've seen. I shouldn't have to be an expert in the nuances of the sport to be able to tell who's won. Sure, it's easy to tell when someone falls, but at that level, laymen can't generally tell the difference between two pefectly executed routines. Indeed, often it seems that person who performed best doesn't win.

And I'm not just picking on figure skating and half-pipe here. The same goes for ski jumping. As long as there's a style component to the landing, it's not a sport. Just give it to the dude who goes the farthest. I don't care if he flails his limbs throughout the flight and lands on his head. If he went farther, he should win. When you're skiing down a 120 meter hill, there's already a pretty good incentive to land cleanly. Personally, I wouldn't need the carrot of style points, because there's already a damn big stick waiting for me if I don't land properly. I'm willing to extend this to boxing, too, a judged sport that probably leads to the most controversy. If they want to change the rules to say that you must knock your opponent out to win, I'm on board. I don't care if it takes 3 rounds, 30 rounds, or 300 rounds. If the winner is determined by a bunch of guys who think they might possibly have maybe seen a jab land, or not, that's not good enough.

Anyway, I'm still a little pissed about the hockey game, so I'm going to start drinking.

Blogger sucks

I had two posts up today, and both have now disappeared. In addition, it's eating comments. If you post a comment, it shows up. But then if I go to post a response, it eats the original comment. So I've done my best to put a couple back up that were eaten.

Random Thoughts

Missed the Illinois game last night. I really have no explanation for this, other than it was Northwestern at home, and I forgot all about it. I was watching my recorded copy of our (the U.S.'s) crappy tie with Latvia. But we won, so yay!

Speaking of the U.S. hockey team, good lord, what an awful second period that was. Not that I've played after flying from one continent to another, but I got a little worried when Emrick and Davidson praised the U.S. for their great first period. Even when you're tired, it's not unusual to start fast. It ALWAYS catches up to you in the second period, though. But they salvaged the point, and they looked great in the first period tonight against Kazakhstan. Still, we've lacked real good finishing so far. The playmaking has been fine, and the defense has been solid outside of the middle 20 minutes last night. Slovakia is going to be tough, though. I don't know how they beat Russia. Just going down Russia's lineup, man, they're stacked.

Speaking of Latvia, I still fucking hate Arturs Irbe.

And one last bit on hockey, but with only one or two NHLers on their roster, how the hell did Konstantine Pushkarev not make their roster? They can't have that many guys better than he is.

I haven't commented on the Jeff Weaver signing because I'm not really sure there's any more that can be said. Others have more or less covered it, but he adds depth to the rotation. Barring multiple injuries, I think they'll be just as strong as they were last year. The numbers will come down a bit just due to regression to the mean, but that's not unexpected. I see Colon being worse by a bit, Lackey and Santana being better, Escobar being better than Washburn was last year, and I'll call Weaver and Byrd a draw. Plus, Carrasco strengthens the pen, albeit for a lot of money.

Started playing floor hockey again recently. A lot easier at 25 than it is at 32. People who know me relatively well will be surprised to learn that I've only been in one almost-fight so far. That's way below my average. But the season is only half over, so I expect that number to climb. And I've lost some of my cheap-shotting touch. I used to be able to rake a guy's foot without bringing him down and drawing a penalty, but no such luck this week. The good news is that I've only knocked down one girl. I've been the very model of restraint.

I don't weigh in on politics very often, mostly because there are a lot of people already doing it, and they all do it a lot better than I possibly could, or at least half of them do. The other half all suck. Regardless, one glance at the sidebar will give you a quick glimpse of my political persuasion. Just wanted to comment quickly on this whole "Cheney shot an elderly man in the face" thing. Ultimately, outside of the comedic value, along with the unintentional comedy being provided by the completely whacked administration response, something's bothering me. Well, actually, lots of things are bothering me, like the whole canned hunting thing, which sounds pretty pathetic when you think about it. And frankly, I don't know if he was drunk, but he was probably drinking a lot more than they let on. Hell, I know I would be if I were out there, but that's probably why I'm not a hunter. Anyway, what's bothering me is this idea that Whittington was "peppered" with birdshot. My Montana cousins hunt, so I'm not anti-hunter or anything. But I can't imagine how the term "peppered" could possibly refer to being pierced by up to 200 lead balls, many of which remain inside the pepperee. Like I said, I don't have a lot of experience with shotguns, but I do have a lot of experience with pepper. Pepper doesn't really bore its way into your food. It sort of rests on top. I'm guessing "getting peppered" probably refers more to something like birdshot that falls out of the air and hits you on the way down after just about all of its energy is spent.

One thing about this incident that I *do* know is that I'm putting my money on Whittington to win the 2008 Tour de France.

My Bruin Blogging Days May Be Over

**UPDATED BELOW**

I apologize for not knowing this before I dared to comment on UCLA basketball from a fan's perspective, but apparently a prerequisite for being a Bruin fan is a complete and unconditional hatred of Steve Lavin. There I was, week after week, sitting on my couch and rooting for UCLA to win, often followed up with a few paragraphs on this blog with analysis of what I'd witnessed, all the while thinking that rooting for the Bruins to win would be enough to call myself a fan. But I fall short, and finally someone let me in on the secret:

Sure it is possible "to believe the guy was a horrible coach, and to be glad he's no longer the coach at UCLA, and not hate his guts." That wouldn't make you as much of UCLA basketball fan as any casual observer of ND football fan who harbors no ill feelings towards Davies or Willingham. UCLA basketball ... heck everything about UCLA is a religion to us. And Steve Lavin - if anyone who has followed UCLA baskebtall closely online last few years would know - HATES UCLA basketball and its fans. He hates us. And it is simple black and white - you are either with him or you are either with us. Right now from your posts it sounds like you are making excuses for his subtle digs at Howland. Kind of odd for someone who comes on here to claim himself as a UCLA hoops fan. Perhaps you should stick to blogging about the Big-10 and enjoy Lavin's commentary on those tough, grinding out, moving chains in the snow games.

Thank you, bluestreet. For the last 3-10 years, I've been living a lie. I've been telling myself that I really wanted UCLA to win, and when people asked to know of which basketball teams I considered myself a fan, I almost always told them "UCLA!". But now I know. I'm a fraud.

See, I used to think that someone could root for a team without hating their previous coach. I used to think that if Steve Lavin wore a red tie on television, it meant that he was wearing a suit with which a red tie looked appropriate. But now I know that the bastard was wearing in support of U$C the University of Southern California (gotta be nicer to them now that I'm in the market for a new team), and it was a total dig at UCLA, whom he hates, along with their fans. I used to think it was possible to think he was a bad coach, but wasn't a complete asshole worthy of the enduring hatred of anyone who dares root for UCLA.

Let me tell you, I'm glad I found out about this when I did. I may have sat down to watch Saturday's Sunday's game and pulled for UCLA. But I can't waste time with that. I've got work to do. I've gotta get crackin' on my Lavin hate. I'm having someone create a program that will show various images of Lavin for two minutes per day while playing a hideous, grinding noise, as of some monstrous machine running without oil. If that doesn't do it, I'm afraid I'll have to give up the Bruins forever.

Oh well, Go Illini.

**UPDATE**

Looks like I've got a long way to go. Lavin expects the same things from UCLA basketball as pretty much everyone else who has written about them in the last year, namely the potential to go the elite 8 this year, and to compete for a national championship next year. See, I read that and kind of that it jibed with my own expectations. But I was wrong. All he was doing was setting expectations for the Bruins that were too high so that they would inevitably fail. That guy is one clever bastard.

Stars 5; Kings 6

Alright, so I'm writing about the Kings again, but I did say I'd probably do it when they started winning again, and well, this is two in a row.

I'm gonna come clean. I gave up on the Kings after two periods. After allowing 3 goals in 5 minutes, I quit. I had to do some grocery shopping that I was leaving until after the game, but I figured I'd leave early and get back in time to watch the Olympics. Fortunately, today's television technology allows us to record programs with a touch of a button (and more importantly, delete them with a press of a button, making the whole thing vastly superior to VHS tapes). Anyway, I started recording and left to do my shopping. Decided I'd watch the third period at about 8x speed without checking to see what happened.

Sure enough, the Kings got an early goal on a beautiful three man play on which Frolov passed the puck to Demitra, who made a no-look behind the back pass to a charging Lubo Visnovsky, who slid the puck home to cut the lead to two. Minutes later, Nathan Dempsey jammed home a loose puck from a Demitra pass to bring the Kings within one. Less than a minute after that, Michael Cammalleri made a nifty move on the right wing boards to enter the zone untouched, moved to his left, and hit Luc Robitaille with a perfect pass. Luc, who skated in unseen from the left wing boards, ripped a wrister through an apparently drugged Marty Turco. You couldn't see his face, but I don't think that was necessary to know what Turco's expression was.

Back in the game at 5-5, I watched the rest in regular speed as the Kings finished off one of their best period's of the season. Not content with just being a crappy goaltender in the third period, cheap shotter Turco yanked down Jeremy Roenick as he skated in front of the Dallas net, leading to a power play. The Kings converted, with Derek Armstrong deflecting a Visnovsky shot between his legs. It went under Turco's right arm and trickled over the line for the eventual game winner.

Make no mistake, this is a tremendous confidence boost, and it's a nice way to head into the break. I don't want to make too much of that, because if you go the break on a winning streak, everyone says "what a great way to go into the break", while if you lose on in, people say "the break is coming at the right time." Silver linings, I guess, but it is a nice way to think about the next couple weeks without Kings hockey, and beating a good team, albeit a team they've owned this season, does leave a good taste in the mouth. Still, we should be concerned about the second period, and the fact that they gave up five goals again. Something has to happen on the defensive end to improve, or this team is going to go right back into a slide.

Still, for one afternoon, it was a lot of fun. And I'll probably watch that period a bunch of times over the break. Now let's hope the Americans can acquit themselves well in Turin.

Illinois 53; OSU 69

Alright, I really don't want to write very much about this game. Suffice to say, the Illini got their asses kicked. They didn't defend the perimeter well, preferring to focus on Terrence Dials. The problem is that Ohio State was pretty much making every outside shot they put up. Je'kell Foster and Jamar Butler combined to go 11-14 from three point range, and, well, you're not going to beat too many teams that do that. This, naturally, caused the Illini to intensify the focus on the perimeter, at which point Terrence Dials killed them, going for 19 and 13.

Look, it's a Big Ten road game, and most of the time, you're going to lose those, especially to good teams. This was clearly no exception. The disturbing part is that the Illini have looked downright bad in their last sixty minutes of action. As the Big Ten Wonk points out, they're giving up an extra .35 points on EVERY POSESSION over that period. That's just brutal, and with their offense, they're gonna get killed playing like that.

The next few games are winnable, and if the Illini are going to respond to Coach Weber's challenge to be a special team, now's the time to prove it. If they continue to falter, they're looking a 7-9 seed and possibly a quick exit from the tournament.

UCLA 67; Washington 70

If the Pac 10 isn't embarrassed about the quality of the officiating for which they are paying, then they truly have no shame. The officiating in the Pac 10 has been awful all season, but it reached a new low today, and I'm not talking about home cooking. It was bad both ways. It was horribly inconsistent. I defy anyone to explain to me what is and isn't a foul using that game as your visual aid. In the second half, they may as well have just given the Huskies two free throws, run 15 seconds off the clock, and given UCLA two free throws, and repeated the process. One of the big plays of the game was a dunk by John Brockman off a feed from Brandon Roy who was passing out of the double team. It was really the most shocking play of the game, because for the previous ten minutes, every touch by Roy was pretty much an automatic foul on the Bruins. My favorite was the fould called on Aboya who was standing on the OTHER SIDE OF THE BASKET and was knocked down by Roy landing on him AFTER he had laid the ball in the basket.

Aboya, for what it's worth, was fantastic. He was more heralded than LRMAM when this class enrolled, but surgeries on both knees slowed his progress, and he's just now beginning to make his presence felt. He led the Bruins with 15 points and added 8 rebounds (per the box score I'm using - subject to change). He's shown good quickness to the basket at times this season, and if he can get fully healthy, he looks like he can be a real force.

Ryan Hollins added nine rebounds of his own, but fouled out fairly quickly in the second half on some more brilliant officiating. Apparently a 6'10" guy can jump on top of Jordan Farmar to fight for a loose ball, but Ryan Hollins isn't allowed to battle with anyone on the Huskies for loose balls. Of course, Hollins should have been kicked out earlier, but he amazingly kept his cool after being bear hugged by Applewhite under the offensive basket ("inadvertantly" according to Mush Mouth). I've gotta think that if I were Hollins, Applewhite would have been missing a few teeth after that play.

Aaron Afflalo appeard to slip back into a slump, adding only five points on 2-10 shooting. Between the two of them, Farmar and Afflalo shot 4-23 from the field. Brandon Roy wasn't much better, shooting 3-11, but he was given 16 free throws, 13 of which he made. The key play of the game came on a Bruins steal with just over ten seconds to go. They got the ball ahead to Collison who had a chance to tie the game with a lay-up. He missed it, and was fouled, then missed his first free throw, and the Bruins were forced to take a three pointer the other end that Jordan Farmar rushed and had blocked.

And that was really the difference in the end. The Bruins shot just 65% from the line, while Washington shot 82%. The Bruins also turned the ball over 20 times, five more than their hosts. They made up for it on the glass, outrebounding the Huskies by ten at 32-22, inlcuding a 14-7 edge on the offensive boards, largely thanks to Aboya. The Bruins simply didn't shoot the ball well from the field, or the free throw line. Bruins not named Hollins and Aboya shot only 30% from the field. Somewhat surprising was that Michael Fey didn't get into the game, especially when you consider all the foul trouble that the Bruins were in.

It's a disappointing loss to be sure, especially with the opportunities they had. But there's no shame in losing to a good team on the road. This is the first road loss for the Bruins, which is kind of amazing when you think about it. It could have been a huge win, but it will end up being a learning experience. They have a week to get healthy before playing at $C, and with the Oregon schools travelling to Pauley for the next two after that, the Bruins really should win their next three before going to the Bay to end the season. If they can do that, and get a split up north, that should be enough for the Pac 10 championship.

BRMC w/ Elefant and the Morning After Girls @ the Metro - 2/8/06

First, let me just say that the title of this post is misleading, as I didn't actually see the Morning After Girls. I actually planned on catching a bit of their set, but events conspired against me. When BRMC was in town a few months ago, their show hadn't sold out beforehand, so I bought my ticket at the door and eschewed Ticketbastard's service charges. I figured I'd do the same this time. No such luck. But I'd already paid twelve bones for parking, so I figured I'd hang around outside and see if I could score an extra ticket from someone. After about 15-20 minutes of waiting in the 20 degree weather with nothing but a sweatshirt, Spike, who is touring with BRMC and playing some guitar and bass, walked by and offered to add a couple of us to the guest list. So I missed the Morning After Girls, but I got into the show for free. That's a trade off I was willing to accept.

Not long after I got inside, Elefant took the stage. First time I've seen them live, but I've listened to their debut album "Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid" a bunch of times. They sound a lot like Interpol. They have a new album coming out in April called "the Black Magic Show", so I was expecting to hear a lot of stuff that I haven't heard before, and I wasn't surprised. They played a few off of "Sunlight...". I know they played Bokkie and Love, and honestly, I think that's all they played from that album. They only played 8 or 9 songs, but they'll be touring in support of the new album this Spring, so I'll probably try to catch them then. The new album sounds like it be a little more rock oriented, but it's tough to tell from just a few songs.

When Black Rebel Motorcycle Club came to town a few months ago, Peter Hayes took the stage and played three songs solo acoustic before the rest of the band joined him. This show started in a similar fashion, with Hayes coming out and playing "Restless Sinner" but he limited the pre-set to that one song this time around. They lacked some of the energy this time that they've brought in the past, but word from Robert Levon-Been was that Hayes was sick. Indeed, prior to their full encore, Levon-Been came out and did a solo acoustic number in order to give Hayes a little more recovery time. Anyway, on to the Incomplete and Out of Order Setlist®:

• Restless Sinner
• Shuffle Your Feet
• Ain't No Easy Way
• Howl
• Stop
• Six Barrel Shotgun
• In like the Rose
• Love Burns
• Red Eyes and Tears
• Whatever Happened
• Awake
• Rifles
• Spread Your Love
• Promise
• Weight of the World
• Sympathetic Noose
• The Line
• Two I haven't heard before (although one sounded like a weird version of US Government)
  
• Heart and Soul

The set was a lot more rockin' than the one they played the last time they were in town, which I kind of figured. Their latest album, Howl, is a lot more stripped down, acoustic, bluesy and gospelly than the first two, which are pretty much straightforward rock albums. Search out some reviews and you can read why. Anyway, last time they played almost the entire new album, which I thought was great, but didn't set well with some in the crowd, or at least one dude near me who wasn't happy with the set. They were touring to support that album, so it wasn't surprising that they played what they did. I kind of figured they would play more of a mix this time around, and they did, with four from "Take Them On, On Your Own", and six from their self-titled debut, including Awake, which may be my favorite song from that album, and which I haven't heard them play since probably late 2001. Another highlight was seeing them close the set with Heart and Soul, which is a terrific closer, and another one that they didn't play last time (they may have played it back when they supported TTO, OYO, but I can't remember, and that show is a whole 'nother story that I won't go into now).

So ultimately, while the set was better, the show lacked a certain something. It was still a very good show, and I certainly got my money's worth. Maybe it was just the people I was around. A couple of guys in front of me talked during the entire Elefant set, and that was kind of annoying. But otherwise, a pretty entertaining evening. Even better, it got me away from the Kings game.

UCLA 50; Wazzu 30

For all of you nostalgic types, I hope you taped this one, because you got to see what scoring was like before the shot clock, and you almost got to see what it was like before the three point line was added. There were two three point baskets all night long. That's not a typo. 2. Count 'em. I imagine that since the three point line was added some 20 years or so ago, there has to have been games with only 1, or maybe even 0, but there can't be that many. And I'd be surprised if any of them featured a team in the top 25.

The defense was excellent yet again. You could tell that Coach Howland told them to keep the intensity up from the outset. The first few posessions featured tremendous defense, with virtually no separation for a WSU player at any time. The intensity transferred to the offensive end, as they scored on the first five posessions, moving the ball as well as they have all year, in running out to an 11 point lead. Before long, it was 14-0, and the spread was never smaller than 12 for the rest of the game.

On the scoreboard, Farmar and his injured ankle poured in 20 points on 7-13 shooting, but somehow went without an assist all night. LRMAM led the team in rebounds yet again, grabbing 7, while Ryan Hollins added 6. UCLA shot 45%, which isn't awful against Washington State, but the cougars only shot 28% themselves, including a painful 1-11 for Robbie Cowgill. I mean really, the numbers are shocking. Washington State had 50% more points in the second half than in the first, and THEY ONLY HAD 18 IN THE SECOND HALF!

One thing the Bruins are going to have to work on is lobbing the ball into the post when their big man is being fronted. I counted at least three times that they turned the ball over trying to make that pass tonight. But to be successful doing that, they'll need big men who can catch, and although they're making improvement, they aren't quite there yet.

Let's just hope that these two teams don't meet in the conference tournament. Not because I don't think UCLA will beat the Cougars a third time, but rather for my own health. I was able to resist the temptation to gouge my eyes out tonight, but another ten minutes, and it would have been close. This game was downright fugly.

Just Another Halo Victory

Well, the jury's in, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are here to stay, at least until 2016 when Arte moves the team to somewhere that isn't Anaheim.

Personally, this is the verdict I was hoping for all along, as I'm no fan of Orange County or Anaheim. And quite frankly, when you sign a lease with a provision so clear, the fact that Anaheim got three jurors to agree with them is a credit to their attornies. But I was a little concerned for Arte. Not because the law was ambiguous, but because I don't trust juries to ever get ANYTHING right.

Arte has been pretty steadfast in refusal to sell any merchandise that identifies the team as being either from Los Angeles OR Anaheim, so it will be interesting to see if that was merely lip service, or if he was sincere. I'm kind of hoping it was lip service, as I'd like to wear an Angels jersey that say Los Angeles on the front, but that's probably because I live far from Los Angeles.

Anyway, that's behind us, barring an appeal or a decision by the judge to grant an injunction, which appears to be a long shot. Time to get ready for pitchers and catchers to report.

Kings lose again, and I'm done

This is the last you'll read of me writing about the Kings. I'm done. I see no reason to put any effort towards writing about a team that refuses to put any effort towards trying to win hockey games. If things turn around, maybe I'll be back. But for now, the Kings are dead to me.

It's over - Kings get their asses kicked again

Only saw the last three minutes tonight. I was actually going to watch the whole thing, but I hit a wrong button on the remote and accidentally sped ahead to live TV and saw a 5-1 score against and decided not to waste my time.

5 goals against, all coming on the power play. I've been saying it for weeks. Everyone wants to rail against the power play, which is bad, but not horrid. It's the PK that has killed this team. They couldn't kill a penalty if they signed Dr. Kevorkian. This team is D-O-N-E done.

But on the bright side, pitchers and catchers report next week.

Illinois debacle follow up

If I had a vote, I would not put Illinois in the top 25. If you can't beat Penn State at home, you are not one of the best 25 teams in the country. If you cannot beat Penn State at home, you do not deserve an at large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Illinois will get one, certainly. They'll be in the field of 65. I'm just saying, if I were on the committee, I would not have them in *my* field of 65. There are 35 at large bids to the NCAA tournament. If you cannot beat crappy teams on your home court, you do not belong in that top group of 35 teams.

**UPDATE**

Alright, now that I've had a night to sleep on it, I realize the above is hyperbole. But this loss still really stings. There were no mitigating factors. There were no injuries to key players, no horrible calls that fouled key players out. There was just one team that decided to play for the last ten minutes, and one team that didn't.

All good things must come to an end, but you'd like to see them end under more acceptable circumstances.

Worst game I've ever seen. Illinois loses.

My Illinois life started in the 1998-1999 season. That's when I moved back to Champaign to go to law school. There have been more than a few losses by the Illini in that time. This is the most dissapointing of those losses. A game at home against arguably the worst the team in the conferences, and the Illini failed to come out and answer the bell for the second half. The zone defense played by the Nittany Lions kept the Illini offense in check, and on the defensive end, the Illini were unable to keep their opponent under control the way they have for most of the season. Honestly, I'm completely distraught right now.

In the end, it will look like the Illini lost a game because they couldn't get a rebound of a three pointer against a team that they are much taller than, a team that they controlled on the boards virtually all night long. But they couldn't do it, and they not only lost the board, but they gave up a bucket that cost them the game.

Let's face it folks, they won a game this season the same way they lost this one. They beat Wichita State by a tenth of a second, but they lost this one by a horrible twenty minutes, where they blew a huge second half lead. There are no refs to blame. They have no one to blame but themselves.

I can't write anymore about this game right now.

Arizona 73; UCLA 84

First of all, let me start by saying that someone at Fox deserves to be shot. Repeatedly. Not only do they cut into the game because of freaking women's basketball games that have already been decided, but they also feel the need to take us through all of the post-game handshakes, then we need to see about five minutes of commercials, during which THEY RUN A PROMO FOR THE GAME THEY ARE CURRENTLY PRE-EMPTING!! Then, when they finally get us to the game, it's ONLY three minutes old at that time. Absolutely pathetic. Of course, this is only true for those of us outside of Southern California.

Some times, you don't have to do it with defense. Tale of two halves, really, as the Bruins opened a big lead in the first half before lackluster play in the closing minutes gave the Wildcats some life. The Bruins came out flying in the second half, stretching the lead to a game high 24 points before they decided to sit back and watch Arizona claw their way back into the game, as they trimmed a 24 point lead to 12 in less than five minutes. They didn't stop, trimming the lead all the way to seven points with less than eight minutes to play. But the Bruins finally put on a bandage on the wound and the Wildcats never got that close again. Honestly, after Arizona called a timeout with 18 minutes to go, it looked like the teams switched jerseys. UCLA mirrored Arizona's first half by turning the ball over possession after possession in the second half, which allowed Arizona to get back into the game. But in the end, the Bruins had too much, and the big lead they built was too much for Arizona to overcome. The Bruins improved to 19-4 on the season, 9-2 in the Pac 10. Their resume right now is tournament worthy, and they have seven regular season games plus the Pac 10 tournament left.

Aaron Afflalo has apparently shaken his slump. He netted a career high 27 points on 5-12 shooting, while going 13-16 from the free throw line. Good to see him taking the ball to the basket again. Farmar and Hollins also finished in double figures. But the most interesting line of the night belonged to LRMAM, with 11 points and 6 rebounds. On the surface, it's nothing special, but when you consider that he did it in 19 minutes, it becomes more impressive. Still, I question why the hell he was in the game with two fouls and a 19 point lead in the first half, where he promptly picked up his third.

The Bruins really struggled with Arizona's zone defense. They almost looked confused at times, content to pass the ball back and forth up top until they either turned it over, or the clock ran down, where they had to force something. A couple of times, Farmar was able to get the ball into a position for a kick out, twice leading to three pointers, one from Afflalo and one from Bozeman, his only three points on one of the two shots he took all night. Still, I thought Bozeman made a big contribution. He's arguably their best defender, and he moves the ball well on offense without getting in the way. He seems to be just about all the way back. Still, their disappointing play against the zone is the type of thing that other coaches can sniff out. Let's hope they work on that to the extent that they know how to deal with it a little better the next time, because I can guarantee you that they're going to see zone defense again before the season is over.

I've also noticed another trend I'm not to happy about. I don't like the way the Bruins respond to big leads. Last season they made big comebacks against Washington and U$C to win games in which they trailed by large amounts. This year they almost did the same against West Virginia. But their response to big leads that they hold has been a little disconcerting. Today marked the at least the third time they opened doors and let their opponent back into a game that should have not been in doubt. They already lost to Washington in a game where they held a big lead. they almost did the same against Washington State. They have a tendency to play to the level of their opponent, and that spells doom in a first or second round tournament game when they have a high seed target on their back. That's an intensity issue that Coach Howland will have to address.

Don't worry, Arizona fans. The last time you were swept by UCLA, you went on to win the National Championship. For some reason, I don't see that happening this year. But you could win the NIT. That's something, right?

High Comedy

Nothing gets a Friday started like hearing a hilarious joke first thing in the morning. According to this morning's LA Times, the Red Sox are apparently working on sceduling a gig at the Laff Shack if their recent offer of Manny Ramirez to the Angels is any indication. Get this. The Angels would get Manny AND ALL of his $57MM salary in exchange for the paltry sum of Ervin Santana, Chone Figgins, and two or three of the Angels top four prospects, which includes Brandon Wood, Howie Kendrick, and I'm guessing Kendry Morales and another one of the middle infield guys, or maybe Jeff Mathis.

That is fucking HI-larious. Apparently Theo spent his pouting period working on his stand up act.

The Angels are also interested in Jeff Weaver if he'll sign a one or two year deal. I could live with that. Put Carrasco back in the pen. Not a bad replacement for Paul Byrd. Gotta be kind of weird though when the team says "we don't want to sign you to a long term deal, because we need that spot for your younger brother."

Winning Ugly - ASU 60; UCLA 69

If you recorded this one with plans to watch it again, erase it. It was not pretty. It felt like the Bruins scored about half of their final total despite shooting almost 50%. It was just a very ragged game against an opponent that they should have beaten by about 20. But every time they had a chance to really close the door, they'd give up a three, turn the ball over, foul a guy, and the next thing you knew, it was back down to four. The only statistical category of any consequence that the Bruins didn't have the advantage was rebounding. Each team finished with 23. But still, the game was in a little bit of doubt with a minute to go until Jordan Farmar found Ced Bozeman for a three pointer from the baseline as the shot clock expired.

Farmar was unquestionably the Bruins' best player tonight, throwing in 18 points on 7-12 shooting. But he only had three assists, negated by three turnovers. LRMAM did not have what I consider to be one of his better nights, netting 8 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. He either needs to start hitting a three every now and then, or he needs to stop taking them when there's time on the shot clock. Aboya and Wright really didn't contribute very much, just two points and 2 rebounds between them. Aboya fouled out after only 8 minutes. Of course, those guys are freshmen, and they're going to have their ups and downs. Mike Roll also hit a couple of three pointers. Ryan Hollins added 6 and 4 while playing only 15 minutes, and Michael Fey got into the game for a couple minutes, scoring on a put back of an offensive rebound.

The slack was made up by Aaron Afflalo and Ced Bozeman, who were both terrific on the defensive end. Afflalo finally showed signs of emerging from his slump, hitting a nice jumper in the lane on a broken play, and draining a late three, followed by a turn-around jumper from the baseline. Bozeman added 10 points of his own, including the aforementioned three pointer. He did it on 4-5 shooting, and added three assists.

This was a bit of a trap game with Arizona upcoming (which is turning into a bit of trap game itself the way Arizona is playing). While there were bursts of energy at times, from what I saw, the Bruins never really got into a good flow. But another win is another win. The Bruins are now 8-2 in the conference, and 18-4 overall. They travel to Washington next week, which makes the Arizona game that much more important. Drop that one, and they could see the beginning of a three game skid. Let's hope the game is a little more attractive than tonight's. But if they need to get ugly to get another W, I can live with that too.

A quick answer

I was going to write a brief post about this in relation to the Kings game tonight, but Anonymous asked the question, so I might as well answer it here. A asks:

where is the coverage of the anaheim angels of los angeles and orange county in california angels trial?

My answer? Check the LA Times and OC Register.

I'm sorry, that's snarky, but honestly, that's where it is. I'm not attending the trial, so really anything I write would be just commenting on what they're writing, which isn't very exciting. My position is pretty clear. I'm on Arte's side. I've talked about in a few different places, and I'm not sure I've done a post on it here, but the lease says what it says. I honestly don't think that legally Anaheim has much of a case. I know the judge is allowing evidence of intent, but the key will be the jury instructions. He can instruct the jury that the lease isn't sufficiently vague and that they should give no weight to that testimony or something thereabouts. We'll see, I guess. I'll probably write up some personal thoughts on the matter when the whole thing is over, depending on what happense.

That leads me to tonight's Kings game. I won't be posting a recap because it's not on TV for some reason. I don't really feel like I can comment on what I can't see. I'll listen to some of it while watching the UCLA game, but I can't really come up with any personal commentary on something I can't witness. This happened during the baseball season as well. Hell, I can't see EVERY game, unless someone wants to start paying me. So I watch what I can, and I write about it most of the time.

Anyway, that covers that.

Illinois 66; Wisconsin 51

They might as well just call the place Assembly Hall North. After breaking Wisconsin's 38 game Kohl Center win streak last season, the Illini returned to the scene of the crime and did it all over again, this time with a stifling defense, timely shooting, and excellent rebounding. The numbers don't lie. A plus 14 rebounding edge, a plus five turnover edge, and a shooting percentage six points better than their hosts. Those numbers are a recipe for success, and you don't seem a team put those numbers up very often on the road.

Balance was a key for the Illini, as four player finished the game in double figures with Dee and McBride leading the way (16 each). In case any potential guard recruits out there are wondering if if they can flourish in Bruce Weber's offense (as if last year wasn't enough), take note that Jamar Smith threw in 12 points as well, six coming on clutch three pointers, one near the end of the first half which pushed the Illini lead to five points, and the second of which pushed the lead back to seven points not long after the Badgers had cut it down to two. Wisconsin was really never in the game after that.

Shortly thereafter, the teams exchanged free throws, and the Illini shut the door for good. Following an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, Dee fed James Augustine for crowd deflating (at least, whatever air was left) dunk, followed by a McBride three that stretched advantage to 12. Wisconsin would not get closer than nine the rest of the way. About that dunk, note to Bo Ryan, you got your sh** worked on that Augustine slip screen TWICE last year in your gym. You really ought to have been prepared for it this time. It wasn't quite as perfectly exceuted as the Deron to Augie play that sunk Wiscy last year, but that's mostly because Krabbenhoft wasn't as dog tired as Wilkinson was last sesaon when Bruce Weber unveiled it. But it's still a thing of beauty when done correctly.

Speaking of Bruce Weber, how good is he? I mean, seriously. He simply outcoached Bo Ryan in this game. Illinois ran the right sets at the right time, and Weber subbed beautifully considering the foul situation. He got Augie back in the game when the Illini were struggling, and protected him well enough to keep him out of heavy foul trouble the rest of the way. No lllinois player fouled out, which is kind of surprising at Wisconsin. Give some credit to the officials as well. I thought they were way too quick to call fouls on anyone within breathing room of Alando Tucker in the first half, but they let the teams play in the second half. When an out of control Jason Chappell bulled his way into Augustine three times early in the second half as Wisconsin tried to pick up that third foul, the refs swallowed their whistles and recognized the ploy for what it was.

A couple of other quick points: 1) Does Bo Ryan ever look happy? I mean, EVER? It must be awful being that guy. Bo, you're coaching at a major university in one of the best conferences in the country. You have a good team. Lighten the hell up. 2) Hey, did any of you know that today was Super Bowl Media Day? I was a little unclear after the first 78 promos, but around promo number 83, it started to sink in.

The good things from tonight? Dee continues to be a major factor even when he's not shooting well, as he added seven assists, grabbed four rebounds, and had two steals. The shooters (McBride and Smith) shot the ball very well, especially Smith (4-4), which is rare on the road. I liked that McBride took 10 shots, as he continues to assert himself. Brian Randle was a monster on the glass with 13 rebounds and three tip in baskets in the first half. More importantly, he continued to attack the basket on numerous occasions. McBride, Smith, and Randle are the weapons for next year's offense, so to see them take steps and make major contributions this year is very important and very encouraging.

The bad? Well, the free throw shooting is still awful. They missed their first five, and although they made nine of their next eleven, six of those came after the game was out of reach, with four coming from Smith and McBride, who don't shoot them all that often. At some point, that's going to be a big problem, and I don't know if they have the time to really do the volume shooting that they need to make some improvement in that area. They've already lost one game thanks in no small part to bad free throw shooting, so keep on eye on that area.

Aside from that, this was a near perfect performance from this team. This would not have been near perfect for last year's team, but this team plays better defense, so they can afford to be a little more ragged on the offensive end. It makes the Illini the true front runner for another conference championship, but there are still pitfalls along the way. Hold serve at home, steal another big road win, and they'll be hanging another banner in the Assembly Hall. Or rather, Assembly Hall South.

Sucks 4; Kings 3 (OT)

I've really lost the heart to write anything about this team until they start winning again. Lest I be considered a bandwagoner, keep in mind that I still watch virtually every minute of every game. It's just so disappointing to see them play so poorly night after night. When you know that almost every penalty is going to inevitably lead to a goal by the opposition, it's very frustrating.

In the last two weeks they've been outplayed in every facet of the game. They're being outshot, they're being outworked, they're being outskilled, and it looks like they're skating uphill on every single shift. I fear that we're seeing yet another late season decline in which a team in good position plays its way right out of the playoffs, and it's worse this year with the unbalanced schedule. There is very little scoreboard watching. When you're losing, it's almost always against a team chasing you or that you're chasing.

Of course, I'll be back in front of the TV for the next game, suffering yet again. This was easier when it was the Angels. They play every day. It's tougher when every game means twice as much, and there's a longer period in between opportunities to rebound.