si Page 958 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

To Watch Tonight
What to watch while *cough* casting a spell *cough, cough* to ward off dementors *hack! wheeze!* ... • College basketball: NCAA Tournament play-in game, Mount St. Mary's at Coppin State (7:30 p.m., ET). Come see if the Eagles will become the first 21-loss team to play in the NCAA Tournament. [ESPN] ...

Storming The Floor's Midwest Region Preview
After our cheap, quick-hit, easy looks at each bracket, the gang at Storming The Floor take considerably closer looks, game-by-game. Here's the Midwest Regional preview, with the West coming tomorrow....

NCAA Pants Party: UCLA Vs. Mississippi Valley State
UCLA Bruins (31-3) vs. Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (17-15) When: Thursday, 9:40 p.m. Where: Anaheim...

NCAA Pants Party: Wisconsin Vs. Cal State Fullerton
Wisconsin Badgers (29-4) vs. Cal State Fullerton Titans (24-8). When: Thursday Where: Omaha...

Wisconsin Badgers
1. Team of the 2000's? OK, that may be taking things a bit too far, but let's review what the basketball Badgers have accomplished since the year 2000. One Final Four, 2 Elite Eights, 3 Sweet Sixteens, 3 Big Ten Regular Season titles (2 outright) and 1 Big Ten Tournament title. Although the casual f...

Mississippi State Bulldogs
1. Erick Dampier, Basketball Guru. Mississippi State's best postseason performance came in 1996. (Insert high-larious joke about Dishwalla, the movie "Bulletproof," or Bob Dole here) The Bulldogs won the SEC tournament by surprising eventual national champ Kentucky in the conference finals. They the...

More NCAA Conference Tournament Doubleheaders, Please
While enough can't be said of Georgia's impressive and improbable doubleheader sweep of Kentucky and Mississippi State yesterday, the circumstances which forced them to play two games in one day were unfortunate. And now they're at a clear disadvantage against Arkansas in the SEC championship, which...

Mississippi Rebels
1. Ride Like the Wind. Ole Miss is allegedly a football school, due to the endless parade of Mannings who went there. However, they have had some success in basketball over the past several years. Though they have claimed at least a share of the SEC West division title four times since 1997, they ha...

Siena Saints
1. Fun facts Siena is a Catholic college established in 1937 by the Franciscan order, named after Saint Bernardine of Siena. (Who's the patron saint of gambling addicts, actually.) The campus was built on an old asparagus farm....

Indiana Hoosiers
1. Dan Dakich is a savvy fellow. The Hoosiers' interim head coach is part of a new trend for interim coaches: Being vastly overqualified. (Kevin O'Neill at Arizona also qualifies here.) Dakich was formerly the coach at Bowling Green before serving as West Virginia coach for one week. He left because...

Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils
1. Nine in a Row. The Delta Devils haven't lost a March game this season. In fact, they were sporting a dreadful 8-15 record on February 16, and they have won every game since to get to 17-15. Their overall record didn't get above .500 until their SWAC semifinal win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff....

Never Challenge Blake Hoffarber To A Game Of H.O.R.S.E.
When they were handing out natural disasters in the NCAA conference tournaments, the SEC came up with tornadoes. The Big Ten ended up with lightning striking twice. (The MAC? Perpetual darkness.) Minnesota's Blake Hoffarber's last-second desperation jumper to beat Indiana 59-58 was brain-exploding u...

Tornadoes Don't Enjoy SEC Basketball
It's refreshing to hear that nobody got injured when the severe weather struck down on the Georgia Dome during the SEC tournament, which means we're allowed to have a little fun with this....

About Last Night ...
What you missed while wondering why the hell you ever downloaded this stupid amazing game... • NBA: The Houston Rockets reach 21 straight wins, still many behind Joe DiMaggio. • Golf: Vijay Singh is 7 strokes ahead of Tiger Woods as those two must be the sole competitors in this tournament or someth...

The Wrong Way To Pay Your Players
Butch Cassidy: [spanish] Manos a... Manos, um... Manos arriba! Sundance Kid: They got 'em up! Skip on down. Butch Cassidy: Arriba! Sundance Kid: Skip on down! Butch Cassidy: Todos ustedes "arrismense" a la pared. Sundance Kid: They're against the wall already! Butch Cassidy: Donde... ah, you're so d...

Welcome To Isiah Thomas Stadium
Did you know that there was a Cedar Rapids Kernels Baseball Club? They're the Iowan Class A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (man that's a lot of prepositions), and their nickname is the Kernels. Which means there's only one logical corporate sponsor. Ladies and gentlepeople, welcome t...

Get Ready For The Pomp And Pageantry Of Eliot Spitzer Night
Our first 2008 chapter of Minor Enterprise is still a few weeks away, but there's no reason we can't get a jump on the Minor League Baseball promotional season with this bit of news: The Macon Music of the South Coast League will hold Eliot Spitzer Night on June 13th. I already have my tickets....

ESPN Visits Can Lead To Later Visits From The NCAA
We've never actually been to Bristol, Conn., but we'll confess to being somewhat curious about a tour of the offices. Heck, apparently mascots and professional athletes hang out there all the time; that sounds fun! But careful, young basketball recruit; visiting Bristol can put your eligibility in q...

Canadian Reporters Are Diligent, Agile
This guy is Rob Leth with Global Television Network in Toronto. And nothing — NOTHING — is gonna stop him from filing a story, to completion. We salute you, Rob Leth....

One Year Since Isiah Showed "Evident Progress"
It's a historic day, everyone, one whose importance almost slipped by us. Today, it has been one year since James Dolan saw "evident progress" from the New York Knicks and extended Isiah Thomas' contract. Boy, did that ever work out well....