Want to simplify your NCAA Tournament bracket process?  Look no further.  This flash app called Bracket-o-matic simulates your entire bracket based on several attributes that you can select, including style of play, seed, coaching, and star power.  You can try it out at bracketomatic.com

 

This clip is classic. Poor kid.

 

Recently Jemele Hill wrote an article for ESPN.com’s Page 2 Section regarding Lebron James recent photo on the cover of Vogue Magazine. It was stupid and basically just wrong. ( Article )

First of all - Jemele, you look like Charles Barkley. But that’s beside the point. Back to business…

So the point of Charles’ - sorry - Jemele’s article was that Lebron James image was somehow being tarnished through this Vogue cover. The cover story is in regards to the bodies of supermodels and athletes, with the cover featuring Lebron in basketball gear (strange, since he’s a basketball player) and model Gisele Bundchen wearing a dress. Apparently, this is tarnishing for Lebron’s image and is an example of racism? … sure.

Jemele’s main claim here is that this is an example of a black athlete being reduced to some sort of savage. WTF??!! You have to be kidding me. Obviously, this image is to show the contrast between brawn and beauty - she even claims this in her article. But she goes on to claim that this “successfully reinforces the animalistic stereotypes frequently associated with black athletes”. What the hell does this have to do with him being black? So he’s on the cover with a basketball, in an emotional pose. Sorry Jemele, that’s really no different than we see him every day - he’s not being shown as an angry black man, just an emotional athlete.

So, by Jemele’s logic, does this mean that this former SI cover of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior is depicting these two as a couple of pyromaniacs on the way to burn down someone’s house?

Come on now Chuck. Whoops - Jemele. Try to find some better material, because this is complete trash.

I’m not sure if all of Jemele’s stuff is quite so shitty - you can find out for yourself. Here’s her archive

 

How gruntled are the American people?

Check the gruntledness meter here

 

Oh good lord.

So there is a British brain-surgeon who has been traveling to the Ukraine and removing tumors with a standard Bosch cordless drill (available at your local hardware store). He performs these operations at a free clinic, while patients are still awake - ouch! - and says that the Ukrainians can handle it because they are tough.

I can’t even handle going to the dentist and having my tooth drilled. Imagine being awake while some crazy-ass dude is drilling a giant hole in your head.

Regardless of how absurd this seems, this guy is truly impressive. Who needs modern medical equipment when you can just cruise over to Home Depot and buy a cheap cordless drill.

You can check out the whole story here

 

VS.

WAHOOO - It’s tourney time!!! Besides college football season, this is by far the best part of the sports year.

Good News- My two favorite teams (WISCONSIN & USC) both made it in. Wisconsin (a #3 seed) will face off against Cal State Fullerton, while USC (a #6 seed) will play Kansas State.

Bad news - If they both manage to win in the first round, they will face each other in the second.

Then what do I do? Root for USC, my alma mater? Or stick with Wisconsin, the team I have followed for as long as I can remember.

View the complete bracket at ESPN.com

Play ESPN.com’s Men’s Tournament Challenge

 

So What is Gator?

Here are the rules:

1. Gator rules are soccer rules except as specified below.
2. You can touch/catch/possess/pass/shoot the ball with your hands if:

• The ball DOES NOT touch the ground prior to you touching it with your hands,
• The ball last touched another player (that is, another player kicked/threw/deflected the ball and you touch/catch the ball on the fly),
• The ball did not touch you last (that is, no passing to yourself or bobbling the ball),
• You are NOT inside the goal box on either side of the field. (except for the Goalie, in which case the goal box is the ONLY place he/she can catch the ball)

3. Your team forfeits possession of the ball if:

• Another player tags you while you possess the ball with your hands,
• You touch the ball illegally (ex: touching the ball with your hands in a goal box, touching a ball with your hands that touched the ground immediately before you touch it with your hands),
• You possess the ball with your hands while inside the goal box.

4. In Gator, “out of bounds” rules apply to the end lines, not to the side lines. The field extends to infinity horizontally.
5. In Gator, “offsides” does not exist.

 

Go Big Or Go Home!!

 

Two great movies from the 80s - one a cheesy love story, the other a ridiculous story of a young man who discovers that there is more to martial arts than fighting.

Here is Lloyd Dobler kickboxing in “Say Anything”

Now take a look at the Cobra Kai in “The Karate Kid”

Craziness - It’s the same place.

Conspiracy Theory - I think John Cusack is really a member of the Cobra Kai.

Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?!
No Sensei!!