[Photo via Reuters via The Big Picture. Just because.]

* The Binghamton Bearcats have withdrawn from the American East tournament this weekend, which means they will not repeat their Cinderella run of robberies, beatings, sexual harassment, drug arrests and suspensions. It was quite a ride. [Press & Sun-Bulletin]

* Sorry, kickball dorks. Insufferable twenty-somethings desperately wishing they had never left college have found a new childhood "sport" that they can embarrass themselves and their families by taking way too seriously. Yes, it's the Four Square World Championships. You will die alone. [NESN]

* A Viking fan in Wisconsin has purchased—at the cost of "two to three years worth of season tickets"—a full-page ad in the Hattiesburg American to try and convince Brett Favre to play one more year. Also: in the ad he calls Favre "bro." Duuuuuude ... you wasted your money. [Channel3000]

* Miguel Cabrera: Not an alcoholic. Noted. [AP]

* * * * *

I just saw a tumbleweed pass by the boss' desk so it looks like this week is basically Thunderdome. Try to clean up after yourselves for once.

•Did Leni Riefenstahl shoot the swimsuit issue this year? South Africa's Genevieve Morton poses with a WWII-era fighter plane, and you know what that means: swastikas! But then, bikini models have always been like Germany: ambitious and misunderstood.

•Frank Thomas calls it quits, a year removed from being a major league hitter. Meanwhile Jason Giambi is set to report to spring training for the Rockies, a year removed from being a major league hitter.

•It'll be Rachel Alexandra vs. Zenyatta on April 9, to crown the Queen of ladyhorses. But don't count out Sarah Jessica Parker just yet!

•In a conference finals rematch, Cleveland topped Orlando with their franchise record-tying 13th straight win. A Lakers-Cavs finals with LeBron/Kobe and Shaq/Kobe storylines would be every fan's dream...so expect Raptors-Jazz.

•In a report from the Department of Obviousness, Binghamton's attempt to build a competitive basketball team resulted in numerous violations in recruiting, academics, and assorted criminal behaviors. So, mission successful if they wanted to build a real D1 program.

•••••

It's Friday! Citius, Altius, Fortius! Or at least take your coffee black.

Actually, the school says it was a "strategic reprioritization of resources across the university" that led to the loss of human development lecturer Sally Dear's job. Dear thinks it's more likely that the reason she was let go after 11 years is because she played a starring role in an embarrassing New York Times investigation of the program back in February. In that article, she claimed that three players had been a highly disruptive influence in her class and when she docked their grades over absences, basketball officials pressured her to accommodate them. Now she's laid off, but that's probably just a coincidence.

Want to hear another coincidence? Seven Binghamton basketball players majored in human development last year and the chairman of that department—who is Dear's boss, sets her class schedule, and presumably made the decision to terminate her contract—is a huge basketball fan! Dear claims "His attitude to me changed 100 percent as soon as the article came out." Weird, right? Also, he sort of looks like a lemur.

So many coincidences, it's spooky.

Binghamton Lecturer Critical of Athletic Department Is Dismissed [NY Times]

UPDATE: Binghamton Athletic Director Joel Thirer resigned this afternoon. [The Quad Blog/Rush The Court]

*****

Hey folks – time for the nightcap. As a current Duke student and unapologetic Blue Devils fan, this game intrigues me because Binghamton seems to have modeled its program after Duke's. Like Duke, Binghamton won't compromise its standards – academic or otherwise - to build a basketball program. Like Duke, Binghamton's players don't run afoul of the law – but if they were to, they'd face severe consequences. And like Duke, Binghamton has had some success recruiting role players from Eastern Europe. If Binghamton can keep this up, it might even begin to replicate Duke's nation-wide reservoir of goodwill. Eh, maybe not.

On the court, it should be fun. Duke's been pretty successful since replacing the Paulus/Smith duo with Elliot Williams and moving Jon Scheyer to the point. ACC Tourney MVP Scheyer shoots a spot-up three pretty well, but since his release is so slow, he can't get shots off as easily against taller players. Since Binghamton starts a smallish lineup, this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Gerald Henderson has been on a tear most of the season and Singler's averaged almost 20 a game over his last six. Binghamton's best shot will be to get Scheyer or Williams into foul trouble. Nolan Smith can get a little jittery under pressure, and Paulus…well…even the most ardent Duke fan will admit that he can do a pretty good impression of a pylon.

So crack open a beer and bear with me while I try to navigate a live blog. On to the game…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

11:46: Alright, I've saved it up all night. I even put on my rugby jersey and had my butler read the rant before I posted it...nah, I can't. I've had too much fun. When you get the chance to post on DU!AN, you go for it, even if the general thrust of the comments is that I should gargle K's semen. I'd be worried if the reaction were anything else. Good night - can't wait for Round 2.

11:43: Zoubek + Paulus sinking threes? We're about two minutes from the walk-ons.

11:38: For a second, I thought they were bringing Kornheiser to the booth. On the one hand, my ears would have exploded, but on the other hand, it would've taken the heat off me.

11:35: First free throw tonight? With 7:15 left in the second half? Binghamton just got into foul trouble way too early...

11:31: Obligatory Paulus love, creepy reference about Coach K's family - Nantz is working really hard tonight.

11:29: Fuller still's playing hard and finishing. That's about it on the Binghamton end.

11:22: Binghamton's cut it to 20. Fuller's pretty effective when he's on the court. Kellog just gave a sympathetic Binghamton speech. Looks like everyone's struggling to finish this one off.

11:19: That sign was the worst of everything.

11:11: Missed goaltending call, open three, and it's a 24 point game. Timeout. Timeout. Getting pretty slow.

11:07: Yes, Thomas' feet were moving on the last offensive foul.

11:06: Fuller's out, Jaan's back, and Duke's threes are dropping...

11:01: And we're back. Nice fadeaway by Fuller to cut it to 12.

10:44: If AIPAC comments are as bad as it'll get, I think I can survive the second half. I'm growing to like Binghamton; I just wish they'd start driving a bit more before rather than settling for ugly jumpers. Definitely a fast enough team. Instead, if they'd just bring some high picks, drive and dish it back, this game could stay close. And I won't have to live-blog Lost reruns.

10:40: Step-back threes? Maybin's getting hot - too bad we've at the half.

10:37: My commenter name is an homage to Pot Roast and Gravy, who had an unfortunate but deserved banning. I will not touch a Hank Gathers joke. Old Marymount games are too fun to watch.

10:34: Seems like Rivera's been isolating Henderson a bit lately. Not the worst move - with the current lineup, Henderson might actually be one of the slower defenders.

10:28: And box out. David McClure can't get Orebs like that. Rivera's making some nice looks...if he can keep it to two fouls before the half...

10:27: The Asian kid's passed out - definitely a Duke party. I really think Binghamton could have some success if they'd press Scheyer and run a bit more.

10:22: Been sitting on this Nick Cage link all night - I didn't figure "Knowing" would buy this expensive a commercial slot...

10:19: So what's standard operating procedure when they break away from the game I'm live-blogging for good? Should I just guess? Watch the box score? Live blog a gamecast? We're not too far away...

10:16 - For what it's worth, the only way Duke will consistently break the press is if they keep sending Henderson back. Or take Paulus off the court. Update: Just did.

Rivera loves fadeaway 3s, huh?

10:13: CPU? Computer? Processing Unit? UNIBROW?

10:09: Seems like only the city of Binghamton is getting it worse than me right now...Jesus...Big Country Reeves isn't the ugliest brother?

10:05: My Duke friends are all excited Paulus is in - I'm just cringing. Binghamton should just isolate him and drive. I won't even resort to the athleticism cliche...

10:04: For what it's worth, Binghamton's getting boards. They just can't make shots.

9:58: Couple of things to watch (and I promise I'll become less Duke-centric once I learn the Bearcats' name) - If they'll give Smith a step to penetrate, he can create good looks (Thanks, Jo). When teams pressure him, though, he starts standing still and dribbling backwards. I'm also not that much of a Zoubek homer. He's only functional when he's fired up and then they put him in the high post. Otherwise, he's a corpse. Think a dead Cherokee Parks.

9:57: Binghamton's not afraid of the moment? Cliches already.

I have no idea how deep Binghamton is, but 6 fouls is pretty problematic.

9:54: Took Scheyer a while to get out of the back court - I'd love a PG who can break this press.

9:52: It'll be interesting to see if they bring Zoubek in quickly - Duke's had success this year putting him up in the high post.

9:51: We're off - Like the full-court pressure on the Binghamton end. We're not that deep.

9:47: (shot of the Blue Devils band) no, no, no, no, flautist - maybe. Entire city of Binghamton - never been, but I can guess.

9:40: Always hate waiting for the games. While we're waiting for the game to start, I'll make a deal: No snobby Duke jokes, No hackneyed standardized test chants, a minimum of smarminess (sic?). However, Malik Allen did steal condoms from a Wal-Mart.

9:35: Mass hysteria in Durham. The law library's half empty, and that one girl from out of town has already started drinking.

2) Three's Company Duke is famous for having the big three. It started with Hurley, Hill and Laettner and now we have Henderson, Singler and Scheyer. Outside of Chapel Hill and Excitement Video, this may be the best threesome in America. Coach K was quoted earlier this season saying, "In March, it comes down to your top 6 or 7 guys." Well, if Coach K is right, he has to like his chances. The inside game isn't great with Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek but if you add Kyle Singler to the mix, it's not horrible. I know Singler likes to shoot more three pointers then layups but the kid can rebound. Henderson has developed a jump shot but is still one of the best one on one offensive players in the country. He can finish over anyone. Jon Scheyer could always shoot.

3) From way downtown The one thing the Dukies need to watch out for is falling in love with the three pointer. When Duke runs their offense and takes the time to get a good look at the hoop they are as good as anyone in the country. They play really good defense most of the time and the only time they really get themselves in trouble is when they decide they are going to try to win the game from long range. They are a shooting team but they need to do it within the offense. The Coach K factor is a huge advantage. It will be interesting if Coach K and company can keep these guys focused and remind them it's not all about the 3 point shot. — Verb (Jumping Offsides)

BINGHAMTON BEARCATS

1) What is a Bearcat anyway? They actually do exist, sort of. The actual name of a Bearcat is a binturong, which is neither a bear nor a cat. Talk amongst yourselves. They are relatively small and eat mainly fruit (suck on that, Nick Lachey). It's natural habitat is the rainforest of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Anyway, BU abandoned its colors (red, white and blue) and mascot (the Colonials) in 2001 upon their move up to Division I. The rebranding effort appears to have worked. Since the move, the Bearcats have led the America East in attendance six of eight seasons (the last six in a row).

2) Who are these Bearcats, specifically? Second year coach Kevin Broadus' controversial recruiting efforts (chronicled here) appear to have worked. All five Bearcats starters average 10+ ppg and conference leading scorer DJ Rivera checks in at an even 20. Junior F Rivera is a transfer from St. Joseph's (prompting GW fans to chant "A-10 reject" at him in a game early this season), Junior G Malik Alvin arrived from UTEP via junior college, Junior G Tiki Mayben comes from UMass and Senior F Reggie Fuller is a juco transfer. Regardless of where they came from, the Bearcats can play, winning the America East regular season and conference tournament with decent non-conference wins against Rutgers and Tulane. They start an athletic, three guard lineup with the only player over 6' 4" being Fuller at 6'9". They'll get up and down the floor, attack from the wings, press and trap and need to stay away from the 3-ball (33% on the season). It will be interesting to see if they have anyone who can handle Gerald Henderson. The Bearcats enter Round 1 on a 10 game winning streak.

3. Who were some Bearcats? As everyone should know by now, Binghamton kindly gave us Tony Kornheiser. But what you may not know is that Binghamton has also provided society with such luminaries as Paul Reiser, dissident feminist Camille Paglia, Billy Baldwin, founding member of Sonic Youth Lee Ranaldo and ESPN personality Karl Ravech. So, not bad. — Mark Franceski

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Kovacevic is a former Binghamton basketball player who beat a classmate into a coma during a bar brawl this past May. He then fled to Serbia using an illegal passport obtained at the Serbian consulate in New York, where the Serbs have been refusing to allow him to be extradited. The whole thing has caused somewhat of a minor international incident. There have been claims that the Serbian government has paid off the victim, Bryan Steinhauer, not to testify. A pretrial hearing in Belgrade was postponed today when witnesses would not testify via video link.

Here's a Q&A with Kovacevic from his freshman year. Excerpt:

Q: Favorite class and why...
A: Philosophy, because we discuss some of the main existential questions that have been shaping mankind.

The victim, who was in a coma for six months, according to the Daily News, says he has no recollection of the beating. Hillary Clinton has even become involved, while meanwhile, Binghamton won the America East championship on Saturday, earning the Bearcats' first bid in the NCAA Tournament. Binghamton switched over from Div. III in 1999.

Local newspapers really do not like this guy.

But Binghamton fans take heart: One of your most noted alumns is Tony Kornheiser. They'll never take that away from you.

Binghampton, Morgan State Earn First NCAA Tournament Berths [Bloomberg.com]
Serbia Case Against Fugitive Binghamton Basketball Player Miladin Kovacevic Postponed [New York Daily News]