A thinking Man's guide to the Tournament

Yay, March Madness represents a 2 week period which is acceptable to eating wings and getting drunk from late morning to late afternoon, taking a power nap and then eating pizza and getting re-drunk from  evening to around mid-night... otherwise known as a day in the life of Kevin Bozeman. Instead of just posting my brackets like I do every year. I decided to give you my systematic approach as to how I rationalize my selections and ultimately come up with a National Champion. So please take 5 minutes to enjoy the logic that is Kevin Bozeman

South
Michigan in my opinion is the most overrated team in the tournament. I think that little dog Robinson disappears way too much and Tim Hardaway is a big shot maker but is too streaky for me to believe they can win 5 games to make the Final Four. However, Trey Burke is the real deal if he and Hardaway play lights out they're in the final four regardless of who they play. Sadly as a Big Ten fan I got them out in the second round against a strong VCU team.

Kansas had a bad week in an otherwise great season. I'm not a fan of their guard play and besides the sweet stroke of Ben Mclemore they don't have enough 3 point shooting which are the 2 things needed to beat a feisty VCU team.

Don't even think about Minnesota who doesn't play well on the road.
Don't even think about Florida who doesn't win close games
Think about Georgetown who played in the rugged Big East, plays tough D and is due to make a good tourney run up until they play a relentless VCU team

You can't refer to a team as strong, feisty and relentless and not have them in the Final Four
South: VCU

East
Indiana has the goods, they may struggle a bit against a fine NC State team and take a second to adjust to the Syracuse zone defense, but Indiana has too many strengths to be taken out before they get to the elite 8

I give Butler the benefit of the doubt. That's what happens when a team creates an aura around them. If the game is close you believe they are gonna win and the NCAA tournament is all about close games, so sorry Bucknell, sorry Davidson you don't have enough juice to blow out Butler so they advance

Miami on the other hand, can lose to Butler, but they'll have a few days to prepare and intangibles on their side. they have a chip on their shoulder and a great point guard so they'll stifle Butler.

Hey if Miami is the 1st ACC team to win the regular season conference and the conference tourney and not get a #1 seed the NCAA selection committee must have done so for a reason and so I side with them.
East: Indiana

Midwest aka THE TOUGHEST REGION
I almost always pick Michigan State, year in and year out they are the most consistent team in the tournament. In the middle of the year I was like I know I'm gonna pick them in the final four this year EXCEPT... the Spartans kryptonite... an ACC powerhouse. Michigan State struggles whenever they play a good North Carolina or a good Duke team and in the sweet 16 they meet Duke who I believe is the second best team in the tournament.

Louisville will play St. louis in the sweet 16. Louisville will be favored by 8 - 8.5 points. Take St. Louis but Louisville will win.

Louisville played a very hot team in Syracuse in the Big East conference final, who was at the time on a UConn, Kemba Walker like run. They took the Orange best shot and proceeded to crush them. For that reason alone. I take them over Duke.
Midwest: Louisville

West aka the easiest region
Gonznga lost only 2 games this year and are very much deserving of a #1 seed, however early in the year they lost to Illinois at home and for some reason that sticks with me, which is why I pick Wisconsin to pull the sweet 16 upset.

I'm not sold on the Big east middle of the pack teams which is why I have Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Cincinati and Marquette all losing in the 1st round and so should you.

New Mexico is legit and their conference is underrated and after barely escaping a game Belmont team in round 2, Ohio State will find out just how legit they are.

I like the Badgers I really do, but I watched them and thought they were a sweet 16 team and yet i put them in the elite 8, but I'm not picking them to go to the final four... I'm not!!!
West: New Mexico

Louisville over New Mexico
Indiana over VCU
I don't have to explain myself in the final Four, you really think it's gonna be a New Mexico/VCU final?!!!

Louisville 68 Indiana 65

Here's my bracket (winners only)
Louisville  
Missouri     Louisville
Ok St.
St. Louis   St. Louis        Louisville
Saint Mary's                                        Louisville
Mich St.     Mich St.        Duke
Creighton
Duke         Duke

Gonzanga
Wichita st.     Gonznga
Wisconsin
Kansas st.      Wisconsin       Wisconsin
Belmont                                                      New Mexico
New Mexico New Mexico   New Mexico
Iowa St.
Ohio St.         Ohio St.

Kansas
N. C.          Kansas
VCU
Michigan    VCU              VCU
UCLA                                                   VCU
Florida        Florida            G-Town
Oklahoma
G-Town     G-Town

Indiana
NC State     Indiana
UNLV
Syracuse    'Cuse      Indiana
Butler                                   Indiana
Davidson   Butler     Miami
Illinois
Miami        Miami

Louisville
New Mexico     Louisville
VCU                                  Louisville
Indiana              Indiana

Here's my "Fuck it if everything goes wrong bracket"

Louisville
Missouri        L'ville
Ok St.
St. louis         St. Louis        St. louis
St. Mary's                                          Mich st.
Mich. st.       Mich st.          Mich st.
Creighton
Duke            Duke

Gonzaga
Wich. St.    Gonzaga
Wisconsin
K-State       Wisocnsin        Gonzaga
Belmont                                              Gonzaga
New Mexico   New mexico   Iowa St.
Iowa st.
Ohio state       Iowa st.

Kansas
NC              Kansas
VCU
Michigan     Michigan       Michigan
Minnesota                                         Florida
Florida         Florida           Florida
Oklahoma
G-Town      G-Town

Indiana
NC State   Indiana
UNLV
Syracuse    UNLV     Indiana
Butler                                        Indiana
Marquette   Butler      Miami
Illinois
Miami         Miami

Mich st.
Gonzanga Mich st.
Florida                    Indiana
Indiana     Indiana

Why your team didn't win the Super Bowl and the Dwight Howard saga

At the beginning of the football season, I predicted a San Francisco 49er/Pittsburgh Steeler Super Bowl, with the Steelers taking it home... close, but the Ravens, a Steelers clone, represented the AFC. During the course of the season, I changed my mind and when the playoffs started, I went with the Falcons/Broncos in the SB. My eyes played tricks on me. I drank too much offensive kool-aid. Like most of you, I got caught up in offensive excellence, while forgetting the principle to winning championships in all sports. DEFENSE WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!

Flash backward: In 2004 the NFL made prominent rule changes that effected the landscape of the NFL. They wanted more offense, so they made significant changes to benefit the offense. Of course teams with great QB's like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning took advantage of it, flirting with undefeated regular seasons. As a matter of fact the last great NFL team in my opinion was the 2007 New England Patriots, who went undefeated in the regular season and still had a championship level defense from their previous Super Bowl victories. They dominated because they were able to take advantage of the offensive rule changes and keep the defense intact before suffering an upset at the hand of the Giants.

Back to present: The problem is that with an elite QB such as Brady, Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, GM's have invested all of their resources into running unstoppable offenses. Besides Manning last year, all of the other teams with elite QB's ranked in the bottom half defensively. In other words, they are built for the regular season. Think Phoenix Suns, circa Steve Nash, think the New York Yankees with an offensive juggernaut line-up but mediocre pitching. These teams can win any game in the regular season, but once the playoffs start. Defense, defense, defense.

Fast Forward: Sure if you have an elite QB you have a chance to win any game, Tom Brady went to the SB last year with an awful defense. At the very least you need solid offensive play and maybe even a quarterback to get hot and play like a top 5 QB ala Joe Flacco and Eli Manning, but you also need a defense to get some stops and right now Green Bay, New England, New Orleans can't get enough stops. The 49ers considered by some the best defense in the NFL still gave up 34 points in the SB, 24 in the NFC championship and 31 in the divisional playoffs. Yes, this is an offensive league and winning 13-10 Super Bowls is not the way to win but all that does is put more onus on getting defensive stops or create turnovers.

Ravens, Giants, Packers, Saints, Steelers, Giants, Colts, Steelers are the last 8 winners of the SB and they all had playmaking defenses. In that time span Brady, Manning and Drew Brees broke single season passing records, none won the SB that year. So before you ink your team on the Vince Lombardi trophy next year you better check on that defense... and that's on da fo real boo!!!

Randomest of thoughts:
Kobe Bryant calls out Dwight Howard, basically saying that he needs to play through his injury because he's all about winning championships. What he really meant was 'hey man if you're not on the court, who's gonna grab the rebounds from my 30 plus shots I'm gonna take every game' he's top ten for sure, but his leadership skills are 12th man!!! yes Dwight Howard has handled the media poorly and has been unprofessional at times, but before he got hurt he was arguably the 2nd best player in the game so if he's hurt then he's hurt all Kobe has done is insure that dwight howard will not be a Laker next year. Just wait and see, mmmm hmmm!!!

I've been bashing college hoops for awhile now, but I'm semi-back on the bandwagon. It's got some quality play across the board and the Big Ten has been an absolute monster league. Every game that doesn't involve, Nebraska, penn st. and northwestern is must see, trust me boo. I'm hoping the NBA and college hoops can carry me through the dog days of winter.

Lastly, I think the officiating in the Super Bowl was excellent. Let them play. The adage of don't let officials decide the game, players need to make plays is true but what is also true is that players need to be ALLOWED to make plays and for that reason a penalty should have been called on San Francisco's last offensive play.

Super Bowl Bets

Super Bowl Bets:
Coin toss (heads)
No points scored the 1st 6 minutes of the game
Joe Flacco over 1.5 touchdowns thrown
Tucker o 7.5 points scored
Tucker O 1.5 fg
Willis o 7.5 tackles
Ray Lewis o 11.5 tackles (lock)
Crabtree u 89.5 yds
Smith -17.5 over Crabtree yds
49ers u 27 points
Total u 48
Ravens + 4

How to decide where to watch the SB, Moss and of course the SB winner pick

The Greatest
Randy Moss recently said that he felt he was the greatest receiver ever, he would be wrong, but he isn't as far off as the numbers suggest. Sure Jerry Rice numbers are otherwordly, but no one had better Quarterbacks than Rice. Joe Montana, Steve Young and Rich Gannon, remember he also played with a decent but not great Jeff Garcia and the 49ers thought that Rice was washed up and let him go to Oakland, sound familiar? Remember when the Raiders let Moss go to the Patriots cause they deemed him washed up, but he wasn't was he? The next year all he had was the greatest season ever for a wide receiver. Aquality Quarterback is quintessential for consistent success from a wide receiver if you don't believe me ask Larry Fitzgerald. So no I don't agree with you Randy but I see where you're coming from.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
The Super Bowl is just 2 days away and maybe you're going thru your list of invitations of where you're gonna watch it. Well here's a rule of thumb sort of approach I've come up with to decide where you should watch the game:

If you have no real vested interest on the teams playing, or any money down on the game, then pick and choose where you want to go, maybe a SB party with some friends and then at halftime you go to a local bar. Basically you're just sharing your last moments of the football season with loved ones. It's like having a get together before you send your kid off to college, you know you'll see them again in a few months but you're still a little sad

If you want to buy football squares or do some friendly wagering then definitely go to a SB party, but make sure it's quality food; ask what's on the menu. If you're hearing things like tuna casserole or olive loaf sandwiches stay the fuck away. Listen out for pizza, wings/ribs, cookies and hard liquor. Those things are essential to get you thru the stupid questions that someone's wife will ask during the game. "Why do they only get 4 downs?" "How much is a field goal worth?' "Isn't it weird that both coaches have the same last name?' and you're like 'um, is there another tv'

You really want the team to lose and/or you have moderate money on the game. This should be watched with a few close friends that have the same vested interest in you. Find a home with the biggest TV, order some pizza's and judge the commercials to take the edge off the game

Your favorite team is in the SB or you have large sums of money wagered on the game, including proposition bets, like who will win the coin toss, how many 1st downs the Ravens will have, etc. Basically these are things that require your full attention, so I highly suggest that you watch this game alone or with someone that won't say much and preferably can take a punch.

The Game
The San Franciso 49ers match up very well with the Baltimore Ravens. I think the Niners are the most physical team in football. They are great at stopping the run and great at running the ball. Colin Kaepernick is the new prototype QB of the NFL. They have play making wide receivers and arguably the best to ever play the game (read the 1st paragraph mofo's) but I'm still picking the Ravens for 2 reasons. One I don't trust the Niners kicker David Akers. This game will have a lot of stalled drives and making field goals will be paramount in deciding who wins this game and no ifs, ands or buts about it, Akers has been shaky at best. Secondly, the big brother rule. This is both the Harbaugh's 1st ever SB, no way does the big brother lose to the little brother in this situation. Big brother's just always has the confidence that they can beat their younger sibling even if the youngest is the brightest or more talented. John is the oldest by a little more than a year so once you convert that into the margin of victory table, that should equate into a 3 point Raven victory after a David Akers missed field goal. Then we all will get to watch Ray Lewis ride off on a deer into the sunset.

Ravens 23- Niners 20

Dueces!!!

The Blog of Liars and the new G.O.A.T.

This week is creepy weird, between Mantei Te'o and Lance Armstrong, it transcends sports. These 2 things speak more of an issue with society more than anything. For instance, Mantei Te'o will still go on to the NFL and if he's not mentally strong, maybe he'll get harassed out of the league. Sure I'll buy that he was madly in love with someone for 3 years , he's never met before, how can I not. I've loved Halle Berry for a lot longer than that and yes I've seen her but I haven't had 1 single conversation with her and yet if she walked into the Starbucks I'm in right now and wanted to be with me forever, I'd say yes... probably (I still have issues with marriage)!!! That's just it, it's a fantasy scenario, Halle's not in Indianapolis, she's not coming to Star Bucks even though its next to a Crate and Barrell, (they have really nice stuff there). Is te'o doing the same thing? Fantasize this relationship because he really wanted it to work? Is he that gullible? Is he a real believer in true love? Who knows, it all sounds sketchy so I shall reserve the right to pass judgement after it plays out and so should you. But this next mutha fucka, I'm judging his arrogant ass all the way...

Sure I'll buy that Lance Armstrong cheating, put him on a level playing field with his top competitors. I'll even accept to a point that its a different situation than Bonds and Clemons, cause he had to do it to win, where as the misremembered and Giant head didn't need to do so, they were HOF's already. That's all he gets though, it's one thing to cheat and deny but he was a dick about it. It's like if you cheat on your girlfriend and she accuses you of cheating and then you turn around and beat the shit out of her because of it. I can give a fuck about his Livestrong Foundation (not in that sense, its really a great foundation) Gerry Sandusky helped underprivileged kids, he doesn't get a pass. He hosted the Espy because he was a hero, he choked out anyone that accused him of cheating, and went about things in a way in which someone who didn't cheat would. The difference is that he actually did cheat. Maybe Lance Armstrong the person that beat cancer could have come back and just competing in the Tour De France would have had just as a successful cancer foundation if he was on the up and up, did you ever consider that Lance supporters?... Well did you punk?!!!

Nope, nope, I'm not gonna talk about the Lakers, they are under .500 and not even a playoff team, so nope, not gonna do it

At some point we are going to have to seriously consider that Tom Brady is the best player to ever play the game of football. It was brought to my attention that in March of 2012 I sat in a diner in LA and told a friend that the Patriots were toast this year, that losing a Super Bowl takes too much of an emotional toll on a team. Look at the Steelers they lost to the Packers and then turned around and loss in the 1st round to Tim Tebow and the Broncos, sure they'll make the playoffs cause they're in an awful division, but no way they win it. Yes I think they'll lose to the 49ers if they play them in this years Super Bowl, cause the Niners are too physically tough for the Pats and maybe they'll lose to the Ravens in the AFC championship, but no way they lose to the Falcons, but that's not the point. Tom Brady is about to play in his 7th final four. For those who wants some perspective that averages out to more than every other year since he's been in the league,... that he's played in the final four. Joe Montana is 4-0 in SB's but Brady has 3 and has a great chance of playing in his 6th one and doesn't seem to be even close to being done, so if he's not the best, it's just a matter of time... That being said I still need his team to not win it all this year, for monetary purposes.

Ravens -8 over New England

No I don't believe that the Ravens will win, but I don't think this team is about to get blown out either. The Ravens defense is not what they once were and if they're gonna win, they are gonna have to put some pressure on Brady, not so sure that will happen, but no one plays the Pats tougher than the Ravens do. I give the Ravens a punchers chance but in the end Brady will be too much.

Patriots 31-24

San Francisco -3.5 over Atlanta

If the 49ers didn't play so shitty in domes this year, it would be a no brainer. However this game is in a dome, so I have slight pause, just slight. I picked the Niners at the beginning of the year to play in the big game so I may as well not change it now. They are the Seattle Seahawks with just a little better defense and watching film of the 2nd half of that game with Atlanta will propel the Niners to a shoot out win against a mediocre defensive team in the Falcons

San Fran 31- Atlanta 24

Yeah that's the same score, watch and see boo!!

Dueces

RGIII, Junior Seau, the Baseball Fall of Fame and Vegas picks

A whole lotta people owe Jay Cutler an apology

In no way, shape or form, do I think Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan would jeopardize his franchise rookie QB RGIII's health to win a game. That being said he did. RGIII should have been cleared to play the game. In the beginning he looked to be somewhat close to his old self, but once he got rocked and was hobbling... You gotta pull the hook and get him out of there. What makes RGIII so special is his elite running ability, once that's taken from him, it made no sense to keep him in the game. Now his career could possibly never be the same, which takes me back to 2 years ago, when the Bears prevented Jay Cutler from returning to the NfC Championship game against the Packers. That was absolutely the right call. You never risk your franchise players health over a game, that's the rule, end of story.

Lets not let another Seau moment happen again

So Junior Seau killed himself after being depressed from too many shots to the head. This for some reason makes me think of the movie Looper, in which once they kill their future self, they get a nice severance package and live it up for 30 years. There need to be guidelines set, where after a certain amount of time, be it games played, age, injury history or whatever. The NFL needs to start doing mandatory brain scans, if any damage has been done to your brain, you get a nice severance package and retire immediately. I also think that while they're in the waiting room, songs like 'Protect yo self before you wreck yo self' and 'Killing me Softly' should be playing in the background, for a subliminal affect.

5 thoughts on the Baseball Hall of Fame

Fuck those crusty old hall of famers who say that they're glad that players like Clemons and Bonds aren't in the HOF because they cheated. This is a classic case of not knowing who you are as a person. I'm not saying all, but if steroids were readily available back in the day, players would have used them, no ifs, ands or buts about it. 

There was a writer who gave up his right to vote for the HOF because he said he wasn't qualified to vote during the steroid era and to that I say  COWARD!!! Writers need to take their fair share of the blame for the steroids era, weren't you guys covering the game? Didn't you see the massive transformation of Bonds, Sosa and McGwire? Didn't you write how 1998 saved the game of baseball? Now you want to wash your hands of it. COWARDS!!!

You say Bonds and Clemons shouldn't be HOF's because they used steroids, and I say weren't they HOF's before they used? You say that's why they shouldn't have used it because they were already in and ego was the driving force behind their decisions. I say ego is the driving force behind everything that has a driving force and I also say the game of Baseball knowingly celebrated cheaters, gave them bigger contracts and iconic status, now these same players are treated like outcasts... HYPOCRITES!!!!

The Hall of Fame vote should be an honor and if you're bestowed with an honor you should consider everything, not just that they cheated and it becomes the entire base for your argument. For the ones that support cheaters, saying that players like Ty Cobb and Gaylord Perry were known cheaters and of bad character, they're in, so let's put the rest in. To that I say, just because mistakes were made in the past doesn't mean that they have to continue to be made. Every year is a chance to start having players in the HOF for the right reasons.

For my vote (which is imaginary), yes I vote Bonds and Clemons in, but no they shouldn't be 1st ballot. No I don't vote Sosa and McGwire in, they weren't gonna make it to the Hall without the help of steroids. Players like Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza, I wait for awhile. I cannot say definitively if they used steroids. They have 15 years on the ballot so I use some of that time to see if more information comes out shedding light on them, if it doesn't, I vote them in. Sure voting is not just looking at numbers anymore, you gotta do a little homework, but you get to vote for the Hall of Fame, so get it in yo!!!

Vegas Picks

Baltimore +10 over Denver

Before we all hop on the Broncos bandwagon, consider that most of their wins came against the the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders, easily the worse division in football and yeah they'll beat Baltimore but no way Ray Lewis loses his last game by more than 10 points

Broncos 23 - Ravens 20

San Franciso -2.5 over Green Bay

I made this prediction last week and I'm sticking to it. San Fran is too physical for the Pack, but if the Pack win and the 49ers offense sputters. Head coach Jim Harbaugh will have to answer to why he went with a rookie QB mid-season on a championship caliber team.

49ers 26 - Packers 17

Atlanta-1 over Seattle

Whoever wins this game will play in the Super Bowl, I picked Atlanta in the beginning and I still reluctantly pick them against Russell 'I may never lose a big game ever' Wilson

Atlanta 30 - Seattle 27

Patriots-9.5 over Houston

I don't believe in Houston at all, if the Bengals had made just a play or 2, Houston would be done. Matt Shaub needs to have a monster game and so does J.J Watts. New England's running game will be the difference. So take the Pats and the points and take Brady throwing under 3.5 touchdowns

Pats 31 - Texans 17

Alabama versus Notre Dame; you'd better be a fan of tackling

Do you know how much shit had to happen for Alabama to be playing in the National championship game. They had just loss with 2 games left in the season, which is almost the kiss of death for any team with National Championship aspirations. They had 3 teams in front of them that were undefeated. All of which were solid favorites over their last opponents. Kansas State was on the road against a good but far from great Baylor football team. all Baylor did was kick the crap out of K-State from the opening kickoff to the end. Notre Dame, who after escaping Pittsburgh in 3 overtimes pretty much assured college football fans that they were destined not to lose any regular season games. So that left  arguably the most impressive team in college football. Oregon who had kicked the shit out of everyone was playing a very good but unspectacular team in Stanford, but they were at home, no way they lose, right?... Wrong, Stanford did the unthinkable, made Oregon's offense look very pedestrian. Oh great piece of cake, now all 'Bama gotta do is when their next game, except it's against a very impressive Georgia football team, so good that it could have been arguably been favored over Notre Dame, Kansas State and Oregon in the National Championship game. After a slugfest, which Alabama barely escaped, due in no small part to Georgia's end of the game time management skills, they end up in a championship game which only happened because an undefeated Ohio State team was banned from post season play. People say, Notre Dame is lucky...

Do you know how good Notre Dame really is? Just because you win ugly doesn't mean that you're not a great team. It seemed like every time I turned to a Notre Dame game, they were on defense at their 3 yard line. It was like being with a girl who would allow you to constantly get to 3rd base but never give it up. That's how Notre Dame was, sure I'll hangout with you and spend time with you, but I'm not putting out. Every week it was like Notre Dame is going down, but nope they won and won and won. Did they play a legit championship team? No, but they did beat 8 bowl teams and that's impressive. Plus they have Manti Te'o the guy who should have been the heisman trophy winner. Every week he was the best player on the field of the Number 1 football team in the country, no other Heisman candidate can say that.

How do you decide between 2 teams of obvious destiny? This game reminds me of Miami versus Ohio State in 2002 National championship game, Miami was a 13 point favorite over an undefeated Ohio State team, when you look back at that it was utterly ridiculous. that spread was based purely on the National Champions, Miami reputation. Ohio State's record was never taken into consideration. Oregon and K-State proved how difficult it is to go undefeated. It's a refuse to lose mentality. Ohio State pulled the upset on Miami that game, in my opinion because they were the team that had less to lose. This game will be close. Alabama will NOT cover the 9.5 point spread. Notre dame will not be intimidated. That defense is too good, both teams teams give up less than 11 points a game. expect a lot of drives stalling at midfield. Notre Dame will be trailing late and either tie it up or take a late lead, but I can't help but think of 'Bama going to LSU and doing the unthinkable, winning on the road at Death Valley when they trailed late in the game. The Crimson Tide will win in Miami, something Nick Saban was unable to do as the Dolphins head coach. Which will make it bitter sweet for him, he will then leave Alabama to coach the Philadelphia Eagles, stay for 2 years, in which he says this is eaxctly where he wants to be before he leaves to coach Florida, Miami or Florida State, leading them to a National Championship and retiring to finish as the greatest college coach of his generation. Now that's a fucking prediction

Crimson Tide 17 Notre Dame 13