Columbus Crooks

--Two games. Two god damn games? Jim Tressel exposed himself as a crook with his cover-up in the Suckeye memorabilia scandal, and THE Ohio State administration furthered that image by suspending the coach for just two games....both against meaningless competition. Did they allow Tressel to coach in the Sugar Bowl as long as he committed to come back in 2011? Hopefully, the corrupt NCAA has something stronger in store for the darling Buckeye program.

Of course, Tressel had a cover-up reason as to why he didn't divulge the fact that he knew of the violation: he was scared for his players. Scared of what tattoo shop owner Edward Rife would do to them, as his name had been mentioned in drug trafficking conversations. Also afraid, apparently, to tell his players to quit prancing around in their studio gangster style, with the one-eye eye black and fake-assed-thug tattoos as they STEAMROLL Akron 20-14 for another STATEMENT victory in Columbus. There are a lot of 'I's to dot in illicit activity....

--Tuesday's spring press conference was a lot of talk about nothing, but there were some telling statements if you are inclined to read between the lines:

Tim Beck, who obviously meant that Shawn Twatson was too stupid to remember the following:

--“It’s a pretty simple game. If something’s working, you just keep running it until it doesn’t work anymore, and you go to the next play.”

Bo Pelini, obviously saying Twatson and Barney Cotton couldn't devise a blocking scheme that would be fit for Lincoln Southeast High School:

“It’s not what we were doing on the line. It’s how we were doing it. I thought we misblocked some things. I don’t want to start pointing the finger at Wats or anything, but I thought we needed to clean some things up, simplify some things so the players can play fast and aggressive. I don’t know that we always did that."

--PYB also likes that fact that two WINNING offensive line coaches were brought in in John Garrison and Brenden Stai. At the worst, they will diminish the negative impact that Cotton has on the line's peformance. At best, they will instill the attitude, footwork, technique and mobility that trademarked the lines of the 1980s and 1990s and has been missing since 1997. Here's to fucking hoping.

--Finally this morning, good luck to Doc Sadler & his squad as they chase their 20th win of 2011-12. Regardless of how the season ends, 20 is huge. It will be tough, as they tip off early (11:30am) in a mostly empty arena in Kansas City against Okie State. But if they can do it, the Huskers at least give themselves a shot against a KU team they almost beat in Lawrence and a slim chance at an NCAA bid.

First things first, however, as we learned NU can piss the bed with the best of them. This stunning compilation of stats from their last three losses shows just how badly they wet themselves at the free throw line. Ouch.

--PS: Doug Gottlieb is a punk bitch. Now starting rumors about Sadler leaving for the open Texas Tech job. This is Gottlieb's second unwarranted jab at NU in recent years, after the Cookie Miller 'punk' flap. The guy knows the game and was fine as an analyst for a few seasons, but now he's more concerned with making bullshit statements to garner attention to his radio show, his brand and his image in the ESPN studio. PYB thinks a man with such a history of felony fraud might tread more lightly.

Side note: why on earth did Doc run Miller out of town? At least he had the heart that NU hasn't seen until Lance Jeter provided some this year. And would Sadler kill to have Ade Dagunduro this season?

Anyway, good luck in KC....we'll see the lucky winners at March Madness next week.

On a Tuesday....

On a Tuesday....

--So PYB will temporarily have to eat crow, as Mike Anderson's warriors took two of three games for preseason #1 UCLA last weekend. The Huskers moved up to 29th in the latest Collegiate Baseball rankings. The Bruins plummeted from 5th to 13th, and likely aren't that good if they lost two in Lincoln.

--What brings back worse memories for NU basketball fans than continued meltdowns when the team has a chance to get over the hump to make the NCAA Tournament? The conference tournament, of course! In the 19 seasons since the 1991-92 campaign, NU has lost in the first round 13 fucking times. Those flops have been filled with flat performances, last-second losses, gut punches....the whole shebang.

PYB remembers being down 13-2 in most those games, as the Huskers usually can't hit the rim for a good 13 minutes of regulation, as another season slowly fizzles to an end. Another early tip time on Wednesday probably won't help things. Hope we're wrong! Just in case you wondered, the OWH's Lee Barfknecht continues his inexplicable ISU man crush as he predicts the Cyclones to take down KSU in Round 1.

--The fact that the Big East might get 11 teams in the tournament is a joke. Bottom line, Marquette is 18-13. If they wanted to get in the Dance so badly, they should have won more games. The first round at MSG does start today, and we'll be 'working from the home office,' gambling on every game, trying to dig our yearly financial hole before the real tournament begins next Thursday.

--On a shinier note, now every knows Jim Tressel is a crook. Since Ohio State is an NCAA darling, these sanctions won't be laid down for years just like the USC/Reggie Bush saga. So if they're finally forced to axe him, when does Bo Pinelli go to Columbus? Or maybe he'll just be forced to sit out the first five games of the 2025 season instead.

--Tom Brady: Joking around, bottle blasted, or just gay? Click here.

The Men vs. The Boys

Friday night's NBA action went a long way in showing us who the pretenders and true contenders are as the playoffs rapidly near.

Miami Heat
One night after blowing a 24-point lead at home against tissue-soft Orlando, the Heat got bottle blasted by league-best San Antonio 125-95. Tony Parker made a surprise return for the Spurs, and torched Miami's defense with drive and kicks that allowed Matt Bonner to hit six of seven wide-open three pointers.

To top it off, Erick Dampier cemented his legacy as one of the league's largest stiffs by hitting Parker with a needless Flagrant 2 foul and an ejection. Dampier left with zero points. Following the game, Dwyane Wade and Lebron James both openly questioned their ability to win on the Spurs' home court saying they've always gotten drubbed at the Alamo. Even if it's true, admitting so seals their fate as also rans.

Orlando Magic
One night after their 24-point comeback at Miami, Orlando showed us all why they are pretenders, as they were thoroughly dominated by the contender Chicago Bulls from tip to buzzer. Dwight Howard gave us another example of why he'll never be a winner, swinging the ball at league-nice-guy Kyle Korver after another player fouled him. That was Howard's 16th technical, warranting a mandatory one-game suspension.

Can you say STUDIO....GANGSTA!?

New York Knicks
The Bricks came out and lost, AGAIN, to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was their first loss to the Cadavers at MSG this season, as at least the first two bonks came in Cleveland. Carmelo Anthony was worried more about hyping the crowd with fake enthusiasm and forgot to win the game. Sorry Knick fans, you deserve better. Anthony makes Amare Stoudemire look like a winner.

So the night left us with all hype, no substance losers like James, Anthony, Stoudemire, Howard and Bosh. And then reminded everyone how grit, teamwork and defense conquers all as winners like Parker, Tim Duncan, Bonner, Korver, Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant came to play without the hype, battled injuries, made shots and got big wins.

Score one for the good guys. We will, as we watch ESPN work on spin control as all their darlings are proving their true lack of worth.

Weekend Preview

--Novel concept by UCLA coach John Savage.....think Mike Anderson is listening? Doubtful.

--If anyone knows how the Husker basketball team will play tomorrow in Boulder, let us know. We can see anything from a win to a 30-point loss. PYB will be dropping some dough on CU, to either cash in on a blowout or buy NU a win over CU.

--Speaking of wagers, can anyone tell who we had our money on last night in the Orlando vs. Miami game? The Heat blew a 24-point second half lead by surrendering a 40-9 run. Lebron James hogged the ball in crunch time, and failed again....and the Heat lost again. So much for beating the Bulls' 72-10 mark. The things that fail them late in games are the things that win championships: defense, an offensive post presence, and an offensive identity on critical late-game possessions.

--This study is a crock of shit. Seven percent of NCAA football players have 'been in trouble with the law.' Big deal. PYB says the regular college population would check in at AT LEAST seven percent, if anything like alcohol or marijuana offenses are counted. Thanks to the blowhards that published this, we get to listen to every overreactionist talking head on ESPN rant about this for four days before forgetting about it entirely.

--Finally, it's surprising to watch Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg sell his soul in his first season leading the Cyclones. Yesterday, former Michigan State guard Korie Lucious announced he was heading to Ames after getting booted by Tom Izzo in East Lansing.

Lucious is another in the long string of questionable transfers Hoiberg has accrued in less than a year in his position. It's not likely he'll receive the same scrutiny another coach would if things go awry with one of these combustible malcontents, considering he's the hometown kid coming back to save the program. But it's still a big gamble--a gamble that would have crucified many coaches before the players stepped on the court in a regular-season game.

Here's hoping The Mayor knows how to keep his constituents happy with limited minutes and a team concept.

--Nice alternate viewpoint on BYU's "honor code."

Tigers Can't Travel

If a game is so shitty that the home team has nine points halway through the first half, then the other team who is supposedly the 22nd-best in the nation folds and gives up a double-digit lead to a team that couldn't blow out most high school girls teams......did it really happen?

PYB watched as NU and Missouri locked horns in a classic pillow fight. NU flopped around for 16 minutes to start the game, before somehow racking up 27 points in the first stanza after the Tigers relinquished an eight-point lead.

In the second, Mizzou came out completely uninterested. How do we know? Well we watched with half-interest ourselves, trying to justify why we were even watching, and realized that any team that allows Brandon Ubel to grab eight rebounds in one half of basketball obviously isn't much into the game.

Lance Jeter had another good game with 16 points, seven boards and seven assists. JB Diaz also chipped in with 14 points and accomplished an amazing feat for a 6' 11" player, as he snared ZERO rebounds. Diaz continually got pushed away from the basket and has really digressed on the defensive glass this year. In the last two games, he has ONE total defensive rebound.....and somehow NINE offensive. Oh well, don't sweat the details.

Toney McCray, despite looking as if he were on ice skates and blindfolded half the time, went three for seven from three-point land and led NU to a second straight good performance from outside, as the Huskers went five for 13. Continued shootiing like that could really help during the last few games. Do we expect it to continue? HELL NO!

McCray's uncoordinated and unaware ways brought up a great question that we posed to some of our constituents during the game via text message: Historically, who has been more embarrassingly uncoordinated: Nebraska wide receivers or Nebraska basketball players?

McCray travels nearly every time he touches the ball and is like a turnover time bomb. He ranks near the top of the list of flopping fish in NU's annals, up there with the likes of Aleks Maric, Andy Markowski, Richard van Poelgeest and Jason Dourisseau.

Brandon Richardson continued his roller coaster ride, going MIA for much of the game with only four points but added five assists. One was a key dish to Diaz on a fast break to keep the Tigers at bay.

So, NU wins. Remarkable....NO. But it is win 19 and Doc Sadler has a chance for 20 on Saturday in Boulder. We expect the Huskers to get blasted, as CU has glimmering NCAA hopes themselves. But stranger things have happened. Let's just table the Big Dance scenario talks for now, as we have seen how the pressure affect this Husker group.

For now, just enjoy win 19, hope for a good Big 12 tournament seed and laugh at the picture of the scum at the Devaney Center last night....courtesy of AMG.

Then try to forget that Mizzou was ranked 22nd in the country. If they really are number 22, college hoops is in worse shape than anyone knows.

Randomness

PYB chimes in with some random links that we've received, as we clean out our mailbox and thank the submitters for their support. We type this as Nebraska has seven points 10 minutes into its game against Mizzou and we wonder if they'll lose by 30.

Bruce Go Boom...Courtesy of The Diggler.

Interesting commentary about Barry Bonds' nuts....Courtesy of Little Johnny Elway.

Some pictures from Pebble Beach and Spyglass from a golf trip last summer....Courtesy of Hubcap.

Tuesday March 1

--How the hell does Troy Murphy get the right to try to gravy train a ring in Karl-Malone style? He's put up decent numbers but has been an afterthought for most of his NBA career.

And it looks like never-winner Mike Bibby will be doing the same thing, as he allegedly will join the Miami Heat. So first the last puzzle piece needed to lock up the NBA title was Mike Miller, now maybe Murphy and Bibby??? You mean Eddie House wasn't enough?

--Can you feel it? That's the sound of the UNK Lopers rumbling down I-80 for their epic matchup tomorrow with Mike Anderson's Nebraska baseball team. Something has to give in this contest, as NU's 'vaunted' offense is averaging more than seven runs a game against terrible competition. Even better, the Huskers average four runs in their three losses--all against lower-level Division I teams. Thanks Mike.

--Tonight is Nebraska's last home game of the 2010-11 season, and despite their flop in the last two games, this team deserves a full house and a raucous, sellout crowd. Will they get it? Surely not, as all the bandwagon jumpers have begun beating off to the thought of the spring game just six weeks away. Throw in the fact that Braylon Heard allegedly cleared eligibility for the 80th time, and you've got attendance of 8500 pasty racists....max.

NU still has a chance at 20 wins, which would be a monumental achievement for a team that finished Big 12 play 2-14 last year. Remember our lesson, don't sweat the details or the style of how it happens, just take a big-picture approach at the end of the season. Twenty wins is solid, regardless of the non-conference schedule. They will have to build on that next year, which will be tough given the fact that Lance Jeter will be gone. He played football at Cincinnati.

--Also glad to see that the Texas Longhorns are melting down once again, albeit a little bit later than last season. UT has lost three of four games, with the only win coming 76-53 at home against lowly Iowa State. Outside of that, they were dominated in Lincoln by Nebraska, blew a 23-point lead at Colorado, and then were owned by Frank Martin's Kansas State Wildcats last night on Big Monday. PYB is sticking to its prediction of a second-round NCAA exit for the Horns, especially considering Rick Barnes' lack of prowess as a floor coach. Roy Williams would be proud.

--And finally, is anyone else as shocked as we are to see that Ricky Henry tanked at the NFL Combine?