The Picture Says It All

Human ' Treeman ' begs for help as he turns into a tree.

This is one of the most unbelievable things I've ever seen. How in the world does this happen?

Testing out Hulu

So the reviews of NBC & Fox's joint venture for streaming tv shows have not been good at all. I just got my invite and haven't had a chance to mess around with it at all, but the one thing I do like is that you can embed any video offered.

So here's this past week's episode of 30 Rock

KY player eats booger

Umm...tastes like chicken.

Marquette Sports Law Program Profile

Here's a brief overview of the reason I came to Marquette.

Basketball Predictions

It's November, and as a Vanderbilt fan, that usually means focusing 100% on the start of basketball season. However, with the Commodores one win shy of bowl eligibility, it's an unusual feeling, but I'm happy to be able to care about both. Here's how I see the season playing out:

SEC East
1. Tennessee- Return everyone but Dane Bradshaw and add Tyler Smith and JP Prince to a team that should have been in the Elite 8.
2. Vanderbilt- total homer pick, but we return 3 starters from a team that made the Elite 8 Sweet 16 and add heralded freshman AJ Ogilvy, who was the best player at the Under 19 World Championships (yes, better than all the Burger Boys).
3. Kentucky- I wanted to pick Florida here, but they don't have any experience to speak of. I'm not ready to buy into Clyde's hype train and will wait for the Cats to establish a true post presence before I declare that Clyde is the messiah.
4. Florida- a bunch of talented freshmen, but that's about it. The oh-fours are gone, and so is the batterer Brandon Powell, and only the former will be missed.
5. Georgia- will Felton ever turn the corner. I applaud him for suspending and dismissing players for not getting it done in the classroom, but they kicked off Takais Brown and have suspended other key players.
6. South Carolina- They add Devan Downey and Zam Frederick, but lose Tre Kelly, who was their entire offense last year. The Gamecocks will be looking for a new coach in April.

SEC West
1. Mississippi State- lots of talent, especially in Gordon and Rhodes. I don't know how $tansbury attracts players to $tarkville, but he's been successful before.
2. Arkansas- will we see a return of 40 minutes of hell? I don't know if Pelphrey will bring the defensive intensity for that, but the offensive tempo will be there on a talented roster.
3. Alabama- losing Ronald Steele hurts big time, and they've got good talent, but Mark Gottfried is still the coach.
4. Ole Miss- Andy Kennedy did a great job in year 1, but I don't see anything better than 8-8 in year 2.
5. Auburn- Lebo has brought in some talent, but does anyone care?
6. LSU- all John Brady has to look forward to are mustache rides from Misty Champagne.

Final Four Teams: North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis, Louisville

Being a Vanderbilt fan is like...

It's hard for outsiders to imagine what being a Vanderbilt football fan is like. Fans of other teams always wonder how we continue to follow a team that hasn't been to a bowl game in 25 years, and the best way I can describe it is that it's like being a golfer. In golf, no matter how bad you are, you'll occasionally hit a great shot. Then, you think that somehow, you'll be able to duplicate that success on a consistent basis, so you keep playing, even if your scores never dip below 100. Likewise, under Bobby Johnson, for every clunker that Vanderbilt plays (MTSUx3, Bama & Auburn this year, recent losses to Ole Miss, etc.) the team seemingly responds with a huge win (Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina).

Today, we beat #6 South Carolina, to mark our first win over a team ranked that highly since 1934. This comes after a horrible performance 2 weeks ago at Auburn and a severely disappointing loss last weekend to Georgia after fumbling the game away. Many fans on the message board, and myself to some extent, figured the dreams of a bowl bid were over after. Now, we're at 4-3 (2 shy of the 6 required for a bowl game) with Miami of Ohio next week, followed by Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and the finale against Wake Forest. Assuming we beat Miami next week, we'll need to beat one of the other 4 teams for a bowl bid. Wake Forest is the most likely target, but I wouldn't put it past us to beat one of the other 3.

Someone finally took him serial

The man that received more votes than the actual winner of the 2000 Presidential election and tried to save the world from the ManBearPig won the Nobel Peace Prize. It's hard for me to understand exactly what fighting global warming has to do with peace, but this marks the second year in a row that a former Vanderbilt student has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

On Basketball Departures

With the recent departure of JeJuan Brown, the issue of the string of players leaving Vanderbilt under Kevin Stallings has arisen yet again. I've only been following VU since 2001, but as far as I know, these are the departures since Stallings took over. Some believe that his transfer rate is rather high, but I've always argued that transfers are just a part of major college basketball. Here's who has transferred (that I know of) since CKS took over.

• Billy Richmond: Dismissed for assaulting a co-ed.
• Rick Jones: Dismissed for marijuana possession.
• Bryson Kreuger: Left the team for unknown reasons before ever playing & was later dismissed for felony charges at Arizona State.
• Brendan Plavich: left because he apparentlywanted to play PG and CKS thought he was a SG.
• Brian Thornton: left after the terrible 3-13 season. Some have said he was a team cancer and wouldn't play help defense because he didn't want to be seen getting dunked on when watching Sportscenter.
• Adam Payton: left on amicable terms looking for more playing time, which he got at William & Mary. The coaching staff helped him find a good fit.
• Demarre Carroll: left supposedly to play the 3, but also had issues with the coaching staff.
• Kyle Madsen: left for somewhat unknown reasons. Some say he was homesick and others say he didn't like what the coaches had planned for him.
• JeJuan Brown: left for reasons completely separate from treatment of coaches.

So by my count, that's only four transfers (Plavich, Carroll, Madsen, Thornton) who left because of some kind of issues with the coaching staff. Carroll and Thornton have been noted as team cancers by some, and coincidentally or not, Vanderbilt made the Sweet 16 the year after each left. You definitively cannot blame CKS for Brown, Richmond, and Jones leaving and I don't think you can fault him for Kreuger because he never played and was later arrested at Arizona State.

To further illustrate my point that transfers are just part of the game:
a) Vanderbilt has pulled in two significant transfers under CKS (Byars and Neltner).
b) Let's look recent departures from other SEC Schools:

1. Alabama- Avery Jukes, Verice Cloyd, Akini Adkins, Shawn Taylor, Albert Weber, Glen Miles, LaKory Daniels, Sam Haginas, Justin Jonas. (9)
   
2. Arkansas- Sylvester Seay, Preston Cranford, Sean McCurdy, Berry Jordan, JJ Sullinger, Wen Mukubu, Rashard Sullivan, Kendrick Davis. (8)
   
3. Auburn- Toney Douglas, Lewis Monroe, Marco Killingsworth, DeWayne Curtis, Joey Cameron, Kelvin Lewis, Brandon Robinson, Ryan Daniel, Michael Woodard, Emmanuel Lewis, Daniel Hayles, Moses Edun. (12)
   
4. Florida- Teddy Dupay (gambling), Christian Dreijer (to play pro), Brandon Powell, David Huertas, Ryan Appleby, Mohammed Abukar, Mario Boggan, James White, Jimmie Sutton, Orien Green, Rashid Al-Kaleem. (11)
   
5. Georgia- Channing Toney, Wayne Arnold, Marcus Sikes, Younes Idrissi, Kendrick Johnson, Steve Thomas, Mike Dean. (7)
6. Kentucky (under Tubby)- Adam Williams, Bernard Cote, Rekalin Sims, Shagari Alleyne, Jason Parker, Marvin Stone, Myron Anthony, Corey Sears, Desmond Allison, Nate Knight, Todd Tackett, Rashaad Carruth, Adam Chiles, Michael Bradley. (14)
   
7. LSU- Ross Neltner, Magnum Rolle, Ben Voogd, Kentrell Gransberry, Tack Minor, Regis Koundija, Josh Maravich, JueMichael Young, Mildon Ambres, Tim Bush, Tony Gipson. (11)
   
8. Mississippi State- Richard Delk, Reginald Delk, Vernon Goodridge, Bernard Rimmer, Gary Ervin, Walter Sharpe, Jerrell Houston, Steven Cowherd. (8)
   
9. Ole Miss- Justin Cerasoli, Trey Hampton, Andy Ogide, Xavier Hansbro
10. South Carolina- Jason Parker, Dameon Kinloch, Travis Kraft, Calvin Clemmons, Jojo Cadray, Issa Konare, Marcus Morrison, Paulius Jonelunius, Stephen McDowell, Ousmane Konate, Jarrod Gerald, Keving Palacios, Greg Taylor. (13)
    
11. Tennessee- Marques Johnson, Harris Walker, Terrance Woods, Boomer Herndon, Damion Harris, John Winchester, Elgrace Wilborn, Tony Passley. (8)
    
12. Vanderbilt- Richmond, Jones, Kreuger, Plavich, Thornton, Payton, Carroll, Madsen, Brown. (9)
    

This list is by no means exhaustive and I do not know the reason for everyone transferring, but I think it illustrates that transfers happen. For further evidence, read this list.

Further Congrats to Kevin Stallings

First there was Andrew Ogilvy committing to Vanderbilt. Then Keegan Bell spurned Georgia and LSU and became the point guard of the near future. Next, CKS added sleepers Andre Walker, Darshawn McLellan, and Charles Hinkle. VU then added the newest Nigerian Nightmare, Festus Ezeli, who spurned offers from Florida, Ohio State, and UCLA. Next, CKS added the Chain Gang, who Rivals rates as the #81 prospect and ESPN has at #55. And today, VU added Lance Goulbourne (#90 on Rivals and #99 on ESPN).

Required reading for any UK fan

Reasons number 1-6 why I will never support the University of Kentucky:


#1
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Chain Gang

Vanderbilt secured its first basketball commitment of the year today in power forward Steve Tchiengang. ESPN's Scouts Inc. rates him the 55th best player in the country, Rivals has him at #81. If there's been one criticism of Stallings' recruiting in the past, it was that he couldn't land the top tier big guys (see Emeka Okafor, Branden Wright, David Harrison). However, within the past year, he's secured the best player at the Under 19 World Championships and a projected first round draft pick (Andrew Ogilvy); another center with offers from UCLA, Florida, an Ohio State (Festus Ezeli); and Tchiengang. Stallings' top target now has to be Lance Goulbourne, who has been one of the fastest risers of the summer and has been considered a Vanderbilt lean for a long time.

Why did I want to go to law school again?

Tensions are at an all time high for the upper level students at school (ok, I might be overstating this). We're in the middle of on-campus interviews, law review stuff is starting to pick up, and oh yea, we still have to go to class. Boy, I miss the days of undergrad where you could get by without reading the material, didn't have to worry about the "Socratic Method," had a professor whose "lab" was at a sports bar, etc. I keep telling myself that I'll make it, but, right now it sucks. I'm going to be stuck in the library tomorrow after Vanderbilt's game, all day Sunday, and possibly Monday through Wednesday. At least I have the one carrot in front of me: NO BAR EXAM (unless of course I decide to actually ditch the hellhole commonly referred to as October-April in Wisconsin.

That is all.

First Week College Football Thoughts

1) Appalachian State over Michigan is definitively the biggest upset in college football history. No I-AA/FCS team has ever beat a team in the AP Top 25. Also, in their past 2 years as I-AA champions, Appy State has lost to Kansas and North Carolina State, so this should put the win AT Michigan in perspective.

2) Notre Dame needs to hire Forrest Gump or Rudy to cut their grass because it's obvious the Fighting Irish are keeping their grass tall to counter their lack of team speed.

3) Vanderbilt, overall, looked pretty good tonight. Earl Bennett set a school record with 223 yards on 13 catches, had 3 TDs, and 64 yards returning punts. Chris Nickson was good, and the defense was good in the second half. I think the coaching staff was trying to stay vanilla in the first half to not show too much for Alabama, but that kind of went out the door and they adjusted at half time. We need better production from the running game and for George Smith and Sean Walker to become more involved.

...Make that an hour

30 Minutes of Pure Nostalgia

I'm Into It

I know I'm late on the Flight of the Conchords bandwagon, but I didn't have HBO until the other day when Time Warner decided to give me 6 months for free. So, I've been catching up on the Kiwis, and while there have been many moments of hilarity, nothing tops this ditty.

Nashville's Nigerian Nightmare

It's been a while since my last post, and you can thank law school for that. For those that care what classes I'm taking, here's my schedule:
*Amateur Sports Law
*ALR in Sports Law
*Trusts & Estates (damn Wisconsin Bar)
*Intellectual Property Law
*Internet Law
*Business Basics for Lawyers
*Sports Law Review (get 1 credit for it)

6 classes plus the law review might be too much, so I might end up dropping the Business Basics course.

---

For those that aren't here to read about my academic schedule, the biggest Vanderbilt related topic is that Festus Ezeli signed his scholarship papers and is headed to Nashville. Ezeli has a similar to story to Amobi Okoye in that he was born in Nigeria , came to the U.S., and tested higher than the grade level his age should have put him in. He graduated high school at 15 and has been taking community college classes for a couple of years. He has never played organized basketball, but he starred for his AAU team and drew offers from Florida, Ohio State, UCLA, UConn, and other big powers. He's very raw offensively, but he's supposed to be a great defensive player and should compliment the Oggmonster very well. Ezeli is going to redshirt this year to develop offensively, but it's hard not to admit we got a steal when 3/4 of the Final Four and the 2004 champion offered him a scholarship. Having that extra scholarship really helped Stallings, and it's hard to see why this isn't at least a top 25 class.

Good news all around for Vandy Baseball

1. Tim Corbin is staying at VU after rejecting a huge offer from Oregon to restart their program. Read Kendall Rogers' article for the details.

2. As expected, #1 overall pick David Price signed with the Devil Rays. The deal guarantees DP $8.5 million and it could be worth over $11 million. This is going to have a huge impact on recruiting and ensuring that top pitching prospect arrive on campus (ahem, Sonny Gray) and don't go to the pros immediately after high school. This deal also means that the two biggest MLB rookie contracts ever were given to pitchers who played at Vanderbilt (Mark Prior was a Commodore for a year before transferring to USC). The Price is Right.

3. First team All-American Dominic Of The Bear is returning as well. DLO was taken in the 10th round by the Tigers, but he struggled in the NCAA regionals and all summer in the Cape Cod League. Vanderbilt will have 8 of it's 9 position players returning from last year's team, with left field being the only position in the air as of now. There will be no better college team with a better middle of the lineup than Pedro, Flash, and DLO. If we can get the pitching we need to replace Price, Weathers, Crowell, Davis, etc., then the outlook for next year is bright.

This is a 3 star player?

Draftexpress.com has a nice interview with future Commodore, Andrew Ogilvy. Ogilvy dominated at the Under 19 World Championships and outperformed Burger Boys DeAndre Jordan and Michael Beasley. Australia didn't play the USA in the tournament, so we didn't get to see how he would fare against talent comparable to what he will face in the NCAA. That said, there were high major prospects on some of the teams he did face, and Ogilvy wiped the floor with them. If I remember correctly, Ogilvy led the tournament in scoring and blocks and was second in rebounding.

Memo to Rivals and Scout- if you're going to give a player an evaluation, how about you actually watch tape of him and not just rely on the schools that offered him. I've already stopped paying attention to Rivals' football ratings due to the Kareem Jackson situation, but I'm leaning to doing the same with their basketball ratings.

Best. Video. Ever

This guy was on Jimmy Kimmel Live the other night and played this song, which has over 4 million views on youtube. What's even more incredible is that he talks with a voice as deep as the one he sings with.

756*?

So Barry Bonds set the all time homerun record last night and I still don't know how to feel about it. I definitely think that he took steroids, HGH, andro, or whatever but I don't know how that should affect his place in history. Here's what I think:

1. Steroids, while being illegal in the United States without a prescription, were not on MLB's banned substance list until the last few years. Should he be affected by something that his sport didn't prohibit?

2. Both hitters and pitchers were taking steroids, so do the two cancel each other out? Bonds was already a great hitter, so was the increase given to him by steroids greater the performance increase given to pitchers? Probably so, but there's no definitive proof. Bonds was already a great hitter before he started taking steroids and likely would be at least #3 all-time on the homerun list, so how many extra homeruns can be attributed to steroids? 100? 10? There's just no way to tell.

3. There's already cheaters in the hall of fame. Gaylord Perry was a known cheater and he didn't do much to hide the fact that he was doctoring the baseball. This is what irks me so much about McGwire being blackballed for one day in front of Congress. Why the double standard? Plus, when you consider that guys like Ty Cobb are in the hall of fame, it's kind of hard to argue against Bonds being enshrined in Cooperstown, but there's still that possibility. This is what bothers me when Bonds is accused of being a horrible person because he's not a great teammate. His job is to play leftfield and hit- not to make everyone like him. Yes, he's part of a team, but no one really complains when Roger Clemens signs deals that don't require him to travel with the team when he's not pitching.

4. Bonds admitted to taking what he believed was flax seed oil and arthritis rub, but he did he know what he was actually taking? I tend to think so, based especially on the evidence in Game of Shadows and Greg Anderson's refusal to testify. If he made sure not to know what he was taking, then that is a problem, but if he honestly trusted the guys at Balco, then I think that weighs favorably for Bonds.

So, in sum, I have no idea what to think and I'll reserve judgment until there's more evidence either way.

This just in...

Well, a few things to discuss.

1. I made the Marquette Sports Law Review. I'm very happy about it, especially now that I know that I didn't waste the two weeks I spent in the law library this summer. I'm really not sure what to expect, but I'll post when there's something more to report.

2. I really suck at putting right now. I shot 93 at Brown Deer yesterday, but from tee to green, I was good enough to shoot mid 80s. I was on one of the par 5s in 2, but 3 jacked it from 30 or 40 feet. I also missed out on several pars because of an inability to even get close to the hole. I know this is a result of not practicing my putting, but I've never been this consistently bad with the flat stick.

3. In the last few days, I've read two people call Earl Bennett overrated. This guy called him "servicable" and this guy called him overrated. I don't know how anyone can call a guy who will break the all-time SEC receptions and receiving yards records overrated or serviceable, but then again, I don't write for esteemed publications like The Fernandina Beach News Leader or an AOL Sports blog. However, I do know that the SEC coaches feel he is one of the two best in the league, and I think I'll defer to their knowledge.

Who Ya Wit?

Do you see what I see?

Check out the images below and see if you can see the hidden image/message:

Do your part...put an end to women's suffrage

I have to admit it, I was inspired by the democratic youtube debate. To that end, I'm going to follow in the footsteps of great advocates and do this:

End Women's Suffrage

El Niño acts the part

Sergio Garcia, once known as el niño (which is Spanish for the niño, of course), choked at another major today. He was 3 up on the field to start and had as much as a 4 stroke lead and needed only a par on 18 to win. Instead, he lost a playoff to Padriag Harrington, who had a double bogey on 18 yet still managed to force the playoff. I'm glad Harrington won because he's a humble winner and a likeable person, qualities which I don't find in Garcia. Plus, Harrington doesn't dress like this:

Nashville Star

For some as of yet undiscovered reason, I've been listening to more country music than ever before. I don't know if it's Nashville nostalgia or what, but it's happening. I do know that LeAnn Rimes is a large part of this increased interest...have you seen her lately? As our favorite Kazakh documentarian would say, she grew up very nice. Anyway, here's her newest video.

Good Riddance

Well, after having some time to let the Chancellor Gee situation settle in, I'm glad he's gone. Sure, he did a great job of elevating VU's academic and athletic reputation, but he's turned out to be the biggest two-face this side of Tuscaloosa.

Here's what Gee said about his decision to come to tOSU:
"I woke up every morning thinking, 'Why am I here?'"

Two weeks ago, after he first rejected tOSU, he said that devotion to Vanderbilt was "unwavering and unshakable."

I'll be perfectly content as long as we find a chancellor who is a great fund raiser and is able to keep VC David Williams. I'm not sure what will happen to the reorganization, but as long as Williams is in charge, VU will be fine athletically.

Goodbye, Bow Tie Guy

So Vanderbilt's Chancellor, Gordon Gee, is resigning to take the same job at the Ohio State. I'm still trying to figure out why he is doing so considering:

• He will be making less- $1.2 at VU plus a free mansion to live in v. $1 million at Ohio State, plus there's no state income tax in Tennessee
• He's already had the job- He was the head man at tOSU before he was at Brown and then left Brown for VU. Why would he go back to a job he already left?
• He turned them down 2 weeks ago and said he was totally committed to VU.

I wonder how much his decision is related to the Wall Street Journal exposé about his spending habits, his divorce from Constance Gee (who is a tenured professor at VU), Constance's Cheech & Chong impersonation, etc.

Here's a couple articles on the whole situation:

• Peripatetic President
• Vanderbilt reformer heads back to Ohio State

Bill Simmons finally answered my question

I've had questions answered by Pat Forde, Joe Schad, and Andy Katz (twice in one chat), but I finally hit the jackpot today. I've been sending Bill Simmons (The Sports Guy on ESPN.com) for over a year and he finally answers one of them. Of course, I had to ask him about his true love in order to make it happen.

Will (Milwaukee): Are you running a hail mary from Brady to Moss on the first play of Madden 2008?

Bill Simmons: (1:33 PM ET ) There's no doubt. It's a mortal lock.

I have no idea why I am so happy about this, but it's the highlight of my day so far.

Edit: It happened again!

Will (Milwaukee): Joey Harrington is "some random backup" in Atlanta.

Bill Simmons: (1:51 PM ET ) Well, there you go. The 2008 Falcons have officially been eliminated from the Ewing Theory.

My New Homebase

WillPridemore.com and the Life and Time of Bruce Dickinson blog are now one and the same. I got tired of designing outdated webpages and have neither the time nor the tolerance to start to learn PHP, CSS, and whatever else I need for a decent looking page.

I'll be adding all the links I had on my old homepage to this site and hope to write more here (instead of just posting youtube clips). We'll see how that works out.

Summer Movie Roundup

Since I now have an income and free time, I've been to see several of the movies out in theaters now.

Knocked Up: B+

• Definitely not as good as The 40 Year Old Virgin or any of the other Frat Pack movies. It is entertaining and Katherine Heigl is super hot, but as Bill Simmons says, it's a chick flick disguised as a movie for guys.

Ocean's 13: B

• Better than Ocean's 12 but not as good as Ocean's 11. It's nice to see the crew back in Vegas and adding Pacino is always a plus, but when your leading lady is Ellen Barkin, you're starting in the hole. You can tell that the actors all like working with each other and the script is good, but there's just something missing when compared to the original.

License to Wed: B-

• I saw this with my Mom and Sister, but it was somewhat of a surprise to me. John Krasinski takes his first stab as a leading man on the big screen and does a pretty good job. He'll always be Jim Halpert in my book-, but he does sneak in some of Jim's famous facial expressions. Mandy Moore is still hot and has been the only pop princess from the late 90s to not go through a crazy period. Robin Williams is ok, but, not surprisingly, he gets annoying after a while and it makes you remember he's the most notorious joke stealer in the history of stand-up comedy. Williams is supposed to play over the top, but there are some elements that just don't make sense (like how the forklift driver can afford to buy a plane ticket for his wife and him with no notice). This would probably make a good date movie, but if that's not in the cards, wait until it's out on DVD (or bittorrent) or even until it hits TV. Finally, the movie had to be written, directed, and/or produced by someone who works on The Office because Kevin, Angela, and Kelly all have parts in the film, plus the couple end up at Sandals Jamaica (no nude Jan Levinson though).
  

Transformers- A-

• Hooray! Michael Bay didn't screw this up! This movie is visually stunning and so is Megan Fox. Anyone who grew up a fan of the cartoon will love the movie- they even brought back the voice of Optimus Prime from the cartoon to voice Optimus in the movie. The only flaws I saw were over the top dialog by the transformers and the movie could have been shortended. Other than that, there were no lulls, the script was funny, and the CG was unbelieveable. I wonder how much GM paid to have their cars used as the Autobots?
  

Greatest Collection of Musical Talent Ever?

It's hard to find a group with more musical prowess than the Traveling Wilburys. It's a same that Roy Orbison died while the group was still collaborating because they could have put out some (more) great stuff.



Handle With Care



End of the Line

Led Zeppelin, rip off artists? Sure seems so.

I heard this guy on Howard Stern this morning. It sure sounds like Led Zeppelin claimed to have written a bunch of the music used on its first album.

Commodores at the White House

Ten Things I Hate About You, Mr. NBA

1. Leave the bench, get suspended rule- so let me get this straight, the Spurs are allowed to benefit when Big Shot BRob pulls a Marty McSorley on Steve Nash? Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw come to the aid of teammate, an obvious human reaction, yet they are punished for this by having 2 starters suspended while the Spurs have a marginal role player suspended? How is that fair? The Suns were the best team in the playoffs when playing with their full roster and basically got screwed harder than an 18 year old Jenna Jameson.
2. Vlade Divac, Manu Ginobili, Anderson Verejao, and all other floppers- who flops more: NBA players or Mitt Romney?
3. Zebras- How are NBA refs worse as a whole than NFL refs, even though they're full time employees? Does anyone else besides the ref who made the call actually believe that Lebron kicked the ball with about 2 minutes left in the game and only 2 seconds left the Spurs' shot clock? Seriously, in what other professions would someone the age of Dick Bavetta still be employed, especially considering that running up and down the court is part of his job description. The Yokozuna formerly known as Charles Barkley can outrun him, and he hasn't missed a trip to the Sizzler since 2000.
4. Kevin McHale, Billy King, Elgin Baylor, Billy Knight, Mitch Kupchack, Isiah Thomas- all of these guys have had extended runs as NBA general managers and STILL suck at their job.

• McHale cost his team multiple first round draft picks because of a secret deal with Joe Freaking Smith.
• Billy King- has single-handedly turned Philly from a perennial Eastern Conference contender to a team that struggle to struggle to make the playoffs. Mo Cheeks was a good coach for the JailBlazers, but he can't do anything with the current Philly roster.
• Elgin Baylor- has made 2 good moves in his career- the trade that brought in Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler and signing Sam Cassell 2 years ago.
• Mitch Kupchack- this is the guy that thought trading Shaq for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler, and the pick that ended up being Jordan Farmar. 3 years later and the Heat have an NBA title and the Lakers have Kobe Bryant trying to get out since he has no one else to help him win. Plus, Caron Butler sure looks a lot like Kwame Brown these days.
• Isiah Thomas- Do I really need to say more? Steve Francis. Stephon Marbury. Renaldo Balkman in the first round (could have had him in the second round)
  

5. Buzz Peterson is a director of player personnel- Yes, this is the guy who thought Boomer Herndon was a legitimate SEC center and Dane Bradshaw was an SEC caliber point guard. Why couldn't I have been rommates with MJ?
6. The CBA- teams that do well in scouting the second round are screwed after 2 years (Carlos Boozer and Gilbert Arenas) when they can't re-sign them for as much as other teams can offer, yet a team that screws up with a first round pick has a guaranteed contract riding the bench. I guess I have to give kudos to Billy Hunter for negotiating this deal for the players.
7. Drew Gooden- he paid hundred of dollars for a calculator from the 1980s and apparently has the reverse condition of Rasheed Wallace- he can only grow hair in a small part of his head (Wallace has the famous bald spot).
8. Chad Ford- the only guys that don't hate him are Darko Milicic and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. In 5 years, Yi Jianlan will join this esteemed list.
9. No penalty for tanking- teams clearly out of the playoffs don't try their best to try for a better lottery position, yet the fans are still paying full price to watch the Bucks play the Celtics with Brian Scalabrine and Sebastian Telfair playing integral roles in the game.
10. Manu Ginobili- Did I mention that I hate the way he plays yet? I seriously don't know whether Ginobili actually thinks he's never committed a foul because I'm starting to think yes. Seriously, he actually thought he didn't foul Damon Jones at the end of game 4, even though replay showed an obvious foul. Memo to Manu: if Lebron doesn't get the benefit of subjective calls, you're definitely not going to either. Someone needs to break this guy's nose...again.

Whose [sic] The Idiot Now?

I still remember Tony & Wilbon lambasting Chancellor Gee on PTI back in 2003 about the AD restructuring. Well, it's 4 years later and Vanderbilt athletics are better than they've ever been. Check out this article. Why can't the "writers" at the uTennessean would write a similar article?

My 15 Minutes

I was interviewed for an article in Commodore Nation about the new features at VUCommodores.com.

There's A First Time For Everything...

...or so goes the cliche. The first time here is Vanderbilt's first ever SEC Regular Season Baseball Championship (in the current format). It's a great accomplishment, but our goals are much higher than just the SEC title.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHZX1jttWfM

Yep, you still wish Tim Corbin was your coach

Star-filled roster has Vandy in position to make history

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=2862803

And to balance out kharma

A tribute to a great musician and songwriter.


Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Rob Van Winckle at his apex

I was always more of a MC Hammer fan, but I saw that TMNT II was on TV today and it immediately made me think of good ole Rob Van Winckle.



Ninja Rap

You Know You Wish This Guy Was Your Head Coach

Best Hire Ever at VU

Grading Cincinnatica

Here's who the Bengals picked in the Draft:

1 (18): Leon Hall, CB, Michigan- He was either the first or second CB on the board depending on who you asked. Many had him projected at #10 to Houston, so him falling to #18 is pretty good value.
2 (49): Kenny Irons, RB, Auburn- Not sure about this pick right now. I'll think about it and comment later.
4 (114):
5 (151):
6 (187):
7 (230):
7 (253):

*The Bengals did not have a third round pick because they took Ahmad Brooks in the third round of the supplemental draft. COnsidering Brooks is a first round talent and hasn't been arrested yet, I don't have a problem with it. He played pretty well last season, especially since he was out of position.

Casey & The Big Unit

Watching Jeff Lockwood bat against Casey Weathers on Sunday reminded me of John Kruk batting against Randy Johnson in the 1993 All Star Game. Lockwood looked generally scared by Casey's heat. Lockwood struck out with the last 2 strikes looking like defense mechanisms.

Now I know how Public Enemy felt... well, sort of

Public Enemy put out a song back in the day called "911 (is a joke)" commenting on the slow response times of emergency services in black neighborhoods. Well, today during the 1L course stream presentation, the fire alarm went off. We all left the building, and 15 minutes later the fire department showed up. Why is this so bad? Well, because the fire department is 4 blocks away from the law school. Luckily, the alarm was set off by a malfunctioning smoke detector in the library (which set off the alarm again after everyone was back inside).

But anyway, here's the Public Enemy song:

Little Yannick & Big Al v. Grandpa Oden...Liveblogging the NCAA Title Game

8:20- During introductions, I noticed 2 things. 1) Is Corey Brewer really 6'9" because I've always though of him as closer to 6'7"? 2) As soon as Billy Donovan is introduced, he takes off his suit jacket. Why even wear it in the first place?

There might be a bit of delay between now and my next entry because I need to eat my gourmet hamburger helper.

8:30- First TV timeout- Bob Knight leads Andrew DeClerq 9-7. Have I mentioned how much I hate Billy Packer? Is there anyone who actually enjoys listening to this guy? I've never heard of someone so equally despised from all fanbases.

8:42- Under 12:00 timeout, and Donnell Harvey leads Scoonie Penn 17-13. Billy Packer mentioned how he never understood why there was a foul limit in basketball. Apparently, he thinks people should get fouled on every shot with no repercussion on the player committing the foul.

8:58- Dwayne Schintzius leads John Havlicek 33-22. Another gem from Billy Packer: "We're not seeing stupid human tricks right now." I think Corey Brewer got the mojo that Jeff Green lost. I think he's definitely a top 10 pick now after showing his 3 point stroke in the last 2 games.

9:09- Sons of the ATP lead the Sons of the USOC 40-29. Oden has played an entire half with only 1 foul and Florida is lights out from downtown.

9:39- Mike Miller leads Michael Redd 49-40 with 15 minutes left in the game. Oden is unstoppable in the paint, but Ohio State is still not getting out on the Florida shooters.

9:50- leads Jerry Lucas 53-56 at the 12 minute timeout. All 4 Florida big men have been saddled with fouls and the refs are being lenient with Oden. This just in...Packer thinks Corey Brewer is versatile.

10:00- Yannick just picked up his 4th foul on a cheap foul. Lee Humphrey left wide open again and he hits the three again. Matt Bonner leads Jim Jackson 64-56 with 6 minutes and change to go.

10:15- Kenyan Weaks is starting to pull away as Lawrence Funderburke is gassed. Oden has played a great game, but that's easy to do when the refs don't call anything in the paint. There's 2:31 left in the game and they're showing Jim Tressell sans sweater vest on TV...I didn't know that could happen. Also, Bill Belichek is at the game in the suit. Frankly, I'm surprised that he owns a suit considering he's worn the same hoodie sweatshirt for about 6 years now. Yannick is now back in the game.

10:21- Seriously, have a professional athlete and a beauty queen ever combined to produce such an ugly kid? I didn't know it was possible to get every recessive trait, but little Yannick has proved me wrong.

So Vanderbilt beat the national champions in 3 out of 4 halves this year...pretty good stuff as a VU fan.

Brainwashed

For some reason, recently I've been listening to the various concerts I have on DVD. I popped in the "Concert for George" and listened to my 2 favorite Harrison songs: "My Sweet Lord" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". I had forgotten how much I like the performances of these two songs on this DVD, so I ripped the files to my computer and posted them on youtube. Enjoy!


*Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Dhani Harrison, et al.


*Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, et al.

A Picture Is Worth...

Total Domination

1) Props all the "experts" who picked George Washington and Stanford to beat Vanderbilt and Louisville, respectively. You really hit the nail on the head with those picks.
2) Thanks to Doug Gottlieb for calling Vanderbilt "fraudulent." The last time we were called a fruad 6 seed, we made the Sweet 16. Leave it to the "expert" with a fraud conviction to make this bold prediction.

Perfect Weekend of College Basketball

I can't remember a better weekend of college basketball for myself than this past weekend.

1) Vanderbilt beat #1 and defending champ Florida- This game wasn't even close. We smacked Florida around in the second half and absolutely dominated the "oh-fours" and Lee Humphrey.



2) Louisville beat Marquette with a Jerry Smith 3 point shot at the buzzer



3) Kentucky lost to Alabama- Yes, the same Alabama team that Vanderbilt beat by 21. The kittyCats have now lost 3 in a row. Sign Tubby to lifetime contract!

4) Tennessee lost to South Carolina- UThug didn't just lose, they got demolished by the worst team in the SEC. This is more embarassing than Bruce Pearl going shirtless on national TV. Long live Madommon.