Today is truly the most glorious day of the year.

G'ahead -- throw Opening Day, the Superbowl, or the day you're getting your braces off at me. Doesn't matter. At noon today, the men's Big East Tournament begins at Madison Square Garden and I'm going to have to try to keep my head from blowing up.

I don't expect many people around the country to feel the same. Even with college hoops fans, the Final Four of the Big Dance -- the peak of March Madness -- is a far sexier affair. And yes, I absolutely appreciate when mid-majors out-muscle top dogs and Cinderellas flirt their way toward the finals. But I believe that the Big East is the best conference in the nation, so five days of heavyweight brawling is like sheer bliss.

Disagree with that? Read somebody else’s blog. Or check out some of this history.

You Like Suspense?
The Huskies crushed Pitt's 2002 hoop dreams in the championship when Taliek Brown hit a 35-foot shot clock killer in the second overtime to lead the Huskies  to a 74-65 win. In 2009, UConn-Syracuse lasts six-overtimes in the quarterfinals. The Orange never lead in any of the five OTs, but Johnny Flynn lead the sixth to close things out 127-117. I got kicked out of the bar I was in right before the final frame started because it was closing time. But before I was even born, much less watching sports over beers, ‘Cuse forced a triple overtime final against Villanova in 1981.  Leo Rautins' tipped in the insurance deuce as the clock ticked down to give the Orange an 83-80 win. His son, Andy (11.6ppg, 4.8apg), will be keeping the legacy of driving people bananas alive in this years tournament.

Maybe Starpower is Your Thing:
Patrick Ewing netted 69 points in three games in 1984, including 27-points and 16-rebounds in the title game. In the 1986 Championship it was Pearl Washington (SU) vs. St. John's star Walter Berry. Remember the days before Boston College turned traitor? Guard Dana Barros hit eight treys and scored 38 against SJU in 1989. The next year, Derrick Coleman (before he went mental) was lighting things up: 25 points and 23 rebounds in 'Cuse's semifinal win over 'Nova in 1990. Alonzo Mourning went off for 76 points in three games for the second-place Hoyas in 1992. Georgetown's Allen Iverson scored 38 in a 1996 quarterfinal game against Miami, and teammate Victor Page went for 34 the next day against Villanova. He then matched up vs. Allen Iverson when UConn faced against the Hoyas. 

The past is impressive but there are too many highlights to even mention. Back in the present, today’s first round schedule looks a little something like this:

    #16 DePaul vs #9 USF
    #13 St. John's vs #12 Connecticut
    #10 Seton Hall vs #15 Providence
    #11 Cincinnati vs #14 Rutgers

Hall has beaten Louisville, Pitt, Cornell, and Cincinnati. Connecticut has beaten Texas, Villanova, and West Virginia. Providence stunned UC and has beaten the Johnnies. That St. John's squad bested Siena, Temple, and Georgia before BE play even started. Cincy dropped Vandy and Maryland out of conference and swept UConn within. Rutgers took down Georgetown, Louisville, and the Irish. USF his risen out of the cellar with wins over Kent St., Pitt, and G’Town. And even DePaul has upset potential after beating Northern Iowa in it’s second game of the season.

Trying to predict winners will take a Mensa-level basketball IQ. That or a Magic 8 Ball. And this is only Round 1. Just wait until Thursday’s quarterfinals tip off -- the front half of those games each feature a team in the nation’s top-16. By then I’ll be in the fetal position, sucking my thumb with glazed-eyes glued to the TV.

And I'll love every second of it.

Comments

	Seems odd seeing UCONN playing in Round 1. 03/09/2010 12:55 PM
Gregg

Matt Cooke must be suspended.

Or stoned in the TD Garden parking lot by Bruins fans. But either way, something must be done. Cooke's hit on Marc Savard during the Penguins' 2-1 win was abhorrent. The Pittsburgh winger leveled Savard with an arm to the head that looked powered by the forearm and elbow instead of the shoulder, yet no penalty was called. Reportedly, refs told associate captain Patrice Bergeron that Cooke was finishing his check on Savard and so the cheap-shot wasn't whistled.

    @HackswithHaggs Claude Julien told me last night Marc Savard had bit of subluxation to his jaw  as a result of Cooke hit, but concussion was far more serious (Joe Haggerty of CSNNE)

Now let me say that hockey hits don't bother me; one of my favorite sounds in the sport is a solid board-rattling check. And the fighting? Love it. Hockeyfights.com is on my list of bookmarks because they've got clips of the ass-kicking in slow motion.

But there is a line between what's legal and what's dirty. Though NHL fans might get rabidly excited when the gloves get tossed, we don't want anybody to end up in the hospital. Busted lips and bloody noses? A job hazard. Getting strapped to a stretcher? A blow to the NHL itself.

The Pensburgh blog on SBNation asks:

"...is this a suspendable crime or just a hockey play gone bad?"

Well let's take a look at Matt Cooke for a hot second. He's no first-time offender.

James Murphy from NESN noted that this season Cooke was already slapped with a two-game suspension for an open-ice hit on Rangers forward Artem Anisimov. His rap sheet also includes two earlier two-gamers and  "a knee-on-knee hit to Carolina's Erik Cole during the playoffs last spring ." Around the league -- among his peers -- Cooke is notorious.

"Figures it was him," B's blue liner Dennis Wideman told the New England Sports Network.

Doesn't sound like a guy who just exercises honest fundamentals.

Of course, judgment isn't up to the fans or even the media. What is important now is for the NHL to take decisive action against Cooke's hit. A strong statement must be made to a guy who seems to both try to get away with what he can and shrug off suspensions as mini-vacations when he does get busted.  Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard, and every other player around the league need to know that there are adequate measures in place to protect them.

Otherwise, this could happen again... and the next time it could be worse.

(Boston Herald photo)

Comments

	The Bruins wanted to go for the win and not go to the box. I am quite confident that when we meet the Pens at the Garden memories will still be fresh. I wonder what the refs would have called if we had done that to Crosby? The hit Ryder made was nothing compared to this and he got a game misconduct and everyone thinks he'll get a suspension. Where is the justice? 03/08/2010 1:30 PM
fan4ever

	The Bruins have been more teddy bear than Grizzly bear. They needed to defend Marc Savard and make Matt Cooke pay! 03/08/2010 1:23 PM
joegill88

	Great piece Mary! Way to be! I personally feel the Bruins response was perfect. They need the points right now more than redemption, and were only 1 goal down. With that in mind, they also will be facing Pit again next week. I strongly recommend Cooke kissing his wife and children goodbye prior to this match... 03/08/2010 11:54 AM
Lucic Crew

	The Bruins' non-reaction (similar to when Bergeron went down in 2007) was shameful, sure; but at this stage in their season, that's all it is. Cooke's intent to hurt was downright dangerous. 03/08/2010 11:13 AM
Mary Pao..

	What was more unacceptable... the hit or the lack of a reaction from the Bruins? 03/08/2010 11:00 AM
Rafe And..

Most mornings I tune into the Dan Patrick Show to get my sports talk fix. I listen streaming online instead of watching on Direct TV 101, not just because I haven't yet had cable installed in my new apartment, but because this is not a superficial ritual. My DP appreciation goes beyond that money-making mane of his.

Today's docket of guests featured a particular highlight for an NCAA hoops-head like me: Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Unfortunately my laptop's passion bucket was full of failure this morning and I missed his spot. Why such a bummer when I'm a UConn alumna?  I respect Krzyzewski; his coaching, his character, and the struggle he must have faced growing up with a last name that's so hard to spell. This also means that I respect what he has to say about the sport.

But when I checked out Twitter to see what went down:

    @dpshow Coach K on the best team right now.."I'd say Syracuse, even above Kansas to be frank with you."

'Cuse: The anti-Mary.

As if this year hasn't been painful enough with my Huskies bouncing between glory and the NCAA slum gutter, it has all coincided with Syracuse staging a bounce back bigger than Flavor Flav. Sure, there are plenty of rivalries within the Big East, but when I was at Connecticut, the fiercest wars waged in the conference were between UC and the Orange.

I stood just three rows back when Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay met on the hardwood in 2005. That game showcased one of the most stupidly athletic one-on-one match ups I've ever seen live. In 2006 I was in New York when one of Connecticut's best teams in recent years was single-handedly buried by Gerry McNamara in the Big East Tournament. And last year's 6-OT BE tourney stunner was reportedly one of the most agonizing UC losses in the rivalry. My friend Samuel Adams thankfully helped me blank that game from my memory that night.

Surviving the season so far, watching the Orange scale the top-25 while Connecticut slides off and on the bubble, has required a certain amount of denial.

Syracuse simply can't be that good, I'd think to myself. Impossible.

Coach K blew all of that up on the DP Show today. When he tagged Jim Boeheim's crew as the best in the nation it was as good as forcing me to shake hands with reality. And then consent to being slapped around by it.

Luckily it's Friday and I'm in Boston. My plan? Two dates with Sam Adams and two days without Dan Patrick.

Comments

	Coach K's endorsement = kiss of death :) 'cuse goes down! lived with this for way too long. go deacs! 03/07/2010 11:02 AM
Carolyn ..

	a great read.. as usual! I'm a UNC fan so I have no sympathy for you. DP in 2010! 03/05/2010 8:28 PM
Rafe And..

	Thumbs up (for the author). 03/05/2010 4:21 PM
Maryland..

	Mary -- I love you, but NEVER count on Coach K to supply anything positive in your life. I mean, c'mon -- He's a f*&king DUKIE!! Oh yeah -- Sorry about your UCONN, but welcome to the real world of teams having an "off year." 03/05/2010 4:20 PM
Maryland..

Many Red Sox fans hate J.D. Drew. 

This is not news. His supposed flaws have been so over-discussed over the last three years that they're no longer issues that are analytically explored but a list of gripes that are enumerated on a nightly basis.

He is considered a bust in Boston: Too much money for too little production.  Instead of playing through pain 'Nancy Drew' would rather sit on the disabled list, say the hecklers. He's a robot, they say, who simply goes through the motions without any real passion for the game. And perhaps most offensive is the fact that Drew is consistently defended -- unjustifiably, so the cynics say -- by Theo Epstein.

'Theo's boy,' they snarl after watching him strikeout.

The verdict is so widely accepted that it's considered a closed case by most. But as the doors swung wide at Fort Myers' spring training facility some members of the media tried to open things back up on J.D. Drew.

Amalie Benjamin wrote a piece for the Globe that expounded the virtues of the Red Sox left fielder on February 14. One strategy was statistics

    “Drew was one of just 10 players who "had an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of .900 or greater in 2008 and ’09.
    ...since he signed with Boston, Drew has gotten on base at a .390 clip. That stands as fourth-best among outfielders in baseball in that span.
    ...his OBP rises with men on base, from .388 to .397. His batting average, however, is higher with the bases empty (.280 vs. .286).''

Yet the article's comments section showed that some in the Beantown crowd remain unconvinced.

“I care about commitment and production and he doesn't do either very well. RBI's and HR's matter,” read one quip. “Drew is as boring a player as I've ever seen. I couldn't care less about his OPS. I want people who play with passion and JD "Pampers" Drew has exactly none of it,” read another.

Michael Silverman took a different approach today in the Herald by discussing Drew's own take on fielding.
       
“I take pride in what I do defensively as much, if not more, than I do on any other level of the game,” J.D. told reporters. “People overlook that all the time. It’s always an offensive thing with me - ‘What have you done for me;’ ‘You didn’t do this, you didn’t do that.’ I think one of the biggest and best things you can probably read about a player is you don’t read about his bad defensive mishaps.

“I’m not a flashy guy, but I think I get great jumps on the ball and I run deceivingly. I’m not a guy who looks like I’m running fast. And people criticize me, ‘Oh, he’s not hustling.’ ”

Is Drew's glove-work a good enough defense against his detractors? His words certainly contain the passion that people accuse him of lacking.

Unfortunately for J.D., there is a large subset of Boston baseball lovers that possesses an unforgivingly romantic notion of what would make the left fielder worthy of his $70 million contract: Home runs and RBI; big bat heroics and overt emotion that matches the fans' own.

Drew seems personally satisfied with the effort his body allows him so that much is not up for debate this season. But Red Sox fans will continue to judge him. Will staying healthy and producing at the plate be enough to restore his reputation among the Fenway faithful? Or is his legacy already written past the point of revision?

We'll find out soon enough.
 

Comments

	So here's my 2 cents. JDD does not do steroids. He gets injured and recovers at a normal speed. He was clutch in 2007. 03/05/2010 8:37 PM
Talon_np

	Standing and clapping, Paoletti; standing and clapping. 03/05/2010 3:40 PM
Jared Ca.. (online now)

	The above comments about his inability to tough it out are in my opinion unfounded. Look at his stats vs. hmm let's pick Trot Nixon (ya know since everyone was so pissed we signed Drew rather than Nixon) and you'll see that over the same amount of time Drew played in MORE games and had better OFFENSIVE stats than our beloved Nixon. Give Drew the credit he deserves. He may not have lived up to the mile high expectations that the Boston fan base has placed on him for his price tag, but he did a hell of a lot better than Julio Lugo...and for not much more money. Also, to say that "we are not looking for heoric at bats" is an outright lie. Look to the 2007 postseason, once Drew hit that grandslam, all was forgiven in one of his worst offensive seasons with the Sox. And if we aren't looking for heroic at bats, then why is the biggest question about the 2010 Sox the lack of a big bat? Why are we looking at Ortiz's 2009 season as a drop in production (he just got off to a bad start...just like Pedroia the year before)? Boston fans need to learn to give credit where credit is deserved. We need to stop booing our own players. That's not being a fan. That's unsportsmanlike. I challenge those naysayers to go out and try and do what these guys do. There's a reason why we sit in the stands and watch them play. It's because even though we think we could play the game better than some of the guys, fact of the matter is we CAN'T. ...View More...View Less 03/04/2010 4:17 PM
Charles ..

	I've been a huge J.D. fan even before his days with the Red Sox. When we got him and everyone was putting him down, I felt like I was one of the very 03/04/2010 4:07 PM
Charles ..

	One of the first blogs I wrote here at trufan was. Are we trying to trade the wrong Outfielder? I made the case then that JD was J.ust D.readful. And we should have been trying to move him and not COCO. I was crucified for it. More and more people see what I did back then.. We are not looking for heroic at bats. We could honestly care less about his lackadaisical attitude. Or his OPS OBP or any other BS Amalie wants to toss out there. We all can appreciate his glove work and how good a read he gets on the ball as it comes off the bat. (Honestly I think he does this better than anyone I have seen since Freddy Lynn). It’s his time on the BENCH! And his attitude about playing, he never NEVER shakes off the nagging little things. He forever begs out of the lineup when there is a tough lefty to face. And it doesn’t matter who esle is hurt or how short the bench is. “Oh coach I think you need to sit me today or coach I cant go back out after this inning.. I’m waiting to see him get a day off for freaking gingivitis!! That’s the nation’s problem with him. ...View More...View Less 03/04/2010 2:51 PM
MONSTAH (online now)

This morning I read an interesting bit of news on Twitter.

    Info819: Des objets de grande valeur pourraient être dans de mauvaises mains. Les gants et le bâton utilisés par Sidney Crosby en finale olympi...

More unexpected than the fact that I speak French should be the fact that gold-medal winning hockey star, Sidney Crosby, is missing his gear. And not just any gear. A Vancouver Olympics Twitter account had the English-friendly details.  

    Vancouver2010__ : Winter Olympics 2010: Sidney Crosby's ice hockey sticks and gloves go walkabout http://bit.ly/bxno77

Apparently, The Kid flung his equipment in the air in celebration during the frenzied aftermath that followed his game-winning overtime goal. The goods haven't been seen since. The news is especially disappointing to the Hockey Hall of Fame as the institution wanted to include the gloves and stick in its collection.

But none of the HOF's three or four annual visitors shouldn't worry. Hockey Canada's executive vice president of operations, Johnny Misley, said that the best men are on the case. "We're doing a little bit of an investigation to find out what happened."

A 'little bit of an investigation.' Right. This is more likely a polite way of saying that our poutine-pounding neighbors to the North are going to open up a manhunt more bloody than the Spanish Inquisition.

Bonne chance, Canada...

Comments

	of course she can speak French she went to a REAL UNIVERSITY !!! 03/04/2010 7:31 AM
MONSTAH (online now)

	Wait a minute. You speak French???? 03/03/2010 11:50 AM
Rafe And..

	Someone has a nice collection! 03/03/2010 11:32 AM
joegill88

	Tiah! 2005 his jersey was stolen from world junior hockey championship! 03/03/2010 11:28 AM
Mary Pao..

	I believe someone stole his stuff when he was a rookie too. Can you say stalker? 03/03/2010 11:23 AM
joegill88