32

If there was any question as to who the best college basketball player in the country was, Derrick Williams eliminated that doubt yesterday. In the biggest upset of the tournament thus far, the Arizona Wildcats defeated Duke in stunning fashion, 93-77. The Blue Devils had no answer for Derrick Williams who dropped 32 points on them in every which way imaginable including several powerful in-the-lane dunks. It was the one of the worst losses Duke has had in tournament history and given the way Arizona is playing right now, it’s hard to choose against them.

11-29

Jimmer has certainly had bad shooting nights before. None, however, came in a do-or-die situation for his team. His 11-29 shooting performance was much worse than it actually looked. The only time he was able to score was when he took someone off the dribble into the lane. He bricked 12 of 15 three-point attempts. If Florida’s strategy was to let Jimmer beat them at all cost and just hope he had a bad shooting night, well, they succeeded. The Gators move on the Elite Eight with the win to face the Butler Bulldogs.

54

If you were forced to watch the Butler-Wisconsin game last night, my deepest apologies. Especially if you’ve never seen the Badgers set the basketball world back to the peach basket days. Trailing by 9 at the half, Wisconsin needed a run to get themselves back in the game. What they got was the complete opposite. They failed to score for the first six minutes of the second half and by the time they did, Butler had built a sizable double-digit lead. In fairness to the Badgers, they mounted a nice comeback, cutting the lead to 4, but it was too little, too late. And for the 5th straight season, Bo Ryan was eliminated from the tournament by a mid-major.

36

At the Maui Invitational earlier in the season, Connecticut wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Coming off the scandal with Coach Calhoun, the team looked thin and only had one guy who could really put the ball in the basket with consistently. That man, Kemba Walker showed that weekend and for the rest of the season how good he actually was. The Huskies rode his back again en route to a win over the 2nd seeded San Diego State Aztecs. Walker was nothing short of brilliant scoring 36 points after starting the game 2-7. There eventually will be a game in this tournament when Walker struggles–or at least, every team in the country hopes so. Because when he gets going, the Huskies are an impossible team to beat.

When Wisconsin defeated #1 ranked Ohio State on February 12th, students and fans rushed the court en masse to celebrate the victory. Several Buckeye players got caught in the shuffle and according to freshman Jared Sullinger, one fan spit on him.

From his Twitter account that night:

“BuckeyeNation, if you ever decide to rush the court, don’t ever spit on the opponents,” the OSU freshman posted on his personal Twitter account.

“To be spit on is just nasty. On top of that, in my face, before and after the game. (Shaking My Head). I just kept walking. More fuel to the fire.”

When that tidbit of news was brought to Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan’s attention, his response was a bit surly, perhaps even confrontational.

“There’s absolutely nothing that has come to my attention, all I know is we won the game, deal with it.”

The “deal with it” line became Ohio State’s rallying cry for their final game of the season against the Badgers. Several players were even quoted as saying that they wanted to hang a 50-point win as revenge for the loss. And the fans in Columbus—well, they weren’t going to let Bo Ryan get away that easy. “Deal with it” towels were handed out to the first 1400 students through the door.

But the kicker was the intro video the Buckeyes used for Sunday’s game, taunting the coach with the line.

Oh yea, and OSU didn’t end up winning by 50—only 28. Lesson learned Bo Ryan, you’re a chump. Do everyone a favor and shut your mouth next time.

Bo Ryan Says ‘Deal With It’ [The Ozone]

.933

Nobody wants to play the Ohio State Buckeyes right now, especially with the way they’ve been shooting. A few nights back, Jon Diebler went 10-12 behind the arc tying a Big Ten record for three-pointers in a game. But yesterday’s team performance against Wisconsin was even better. At one point, the Buckeyes sank 14 in a row in their quest to avenge an earlier loss to Wisconsin at the Kohl.

7

It was just a few weeks back that the Los Angeles Lakers looked like a dysfunctional team. Multiple losses in a row and a couple in blowout fashion. Some wondered if the back-to-back champs had lost their lust for regular season basketball and were just trying to cruise their way into the playoffs. But a bulb went off for Kobe Bryant two weeks ago and since then, the Lakers have reeled off seven in a row including a dominating win over the league-leading San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

4:36

With 4:36 remaining in the third quarter, the entire New Orleans Hornets franchise and fans held their collective breath. While driving to the lane Chris Paul collided with another player and grabbed at his neck. He laid on the ground for several minutes before a stretcher took him off the court and to a nearby hospital. Thankfully, CP3 will make a recovery as it appears he just has a “jammed neck” of sorts.

68

One of the first teams to punch their ticket to March Madness was the Indiana State Sycamores of the Missouri Valley conference. In a year where the Sycamores were picked to finish 7th in the league, they beat a heavily favored Missouri State team. And now they must watch and wait, hoping for one of the at-large bids in the 68 team tournament. Unfortunately for MSU, they don’t nearly have the quality wins that many other teams on the bubble do.

6

After six impatient days which saw the University of Michigan get turned down by Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles, they finally settled on their man yesterday afternoon. San Diego State coach Brady Hoke, a former assistant with the Wolverines agreed to come on board and take over the mess Rich Rodriguez left the program in. Some say AD David Brandon wanted Hoke all along and that the rest of the search was a charade, but then again, it wouldn’t be the first or last time someone has lied in the hiring process.

47

The 10th ranked BYU Cougars are a legit team and part of that reason is the play of senior guard Jimmer Fredette. In a game against Utah last night, Fredrette dominated from start to finish and wound up with a whopping 47 points in a blowout of the Utes. Fredrette was 16-28 from the field and an astounding 6-9 from three-point land. Oh yea, he didn’t miss a free throw either going 9-9.

9

Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers have been a thorn in the side of Michigan State for more than a decade. Few can say they boast the record that Ryan has against Tom Izzo. And last night, when the Badgers were up nine with a little over two minutes to go, there was nothing to suggest things would change. But uncharacteristically, the Badgers turned the ball over three times down the stretch and allowed MSU to hit uncontested three-pointers to send the game into overtime. There, MSU dominated the glass and somehow came away with a win. Truly, a time where the shoe was on the other foot for Ryan

18

Well, well, well, we’ve now heard the first public complaint from a player about the 18-game schedule. Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita spoke to reporters in a media conference organized by the players union yesterday. “There are so many things now — with player health and safety, and the future of us and our families — that aren’t even being considered. And for us, it’s disappointing,” Fujita said. “It feels like a slap in the face.”

Police reports say Lueders entered a “manic state” at the time of the attack.

When cops arrived on the scene, the found Lueders singing Christmas carols outside and carrying a New Year’s horn. When the officers went to speak to her and ask what was wrong, she blew the horn in their ears and threw coffee at them.

During her court appearance, Lueders muttered “I love you, but you don’t listen” and “I love you, Karen Lueders,” presumably creeping and terrifying everyone within earshot.

Lueders is charged with counts of “felony mayhem,” which sounds like a wonderful band name.

Women go crazy in rest rooms. That’s why they all have to go into the bathroom together, presumably to tie each other down to avoid their wolfman-esque explosions into insanity. This is precisely why I don’t let girlfriends use my bathroom. Looks like my “Girl Pee and Poo Bucket” is sounding pretty smart now, eh?

Karen Lueders, of Sheboygan, charged with biting husband’s tongue off [Sheboygan Press]
Wife Bites off Husband’s Tongue During Kiss, Sings Christmas Carols [Gawker]

19

Twelve hours after getting into a car accident, the Patriots signed quarterback Tom Brady to a 19 million dollar contract. As CNBC sports reporter Darren Rovell pointed out, “most valuable car accident of all time?” Sure seems to be.

33

Points Kevin Durant scored against Russia yesterday to lead the U.S. to victory. And thankfully, they needed everyone of them. The game was tied after the first quarter and the Russians even held a brief five point lead in the second. But the U.S. closed out with the half with 14-5 run and never looked back.

78

Hope you didn’t take Saints’ kicker Garrett Hartley early in your fantasy draft this year. Hartley missed field goals from 46 and 32 yards (78 total) yesterday effectively keeping the Vikings in the game. But much worse than that, he screwed up betting all around the country. The spread was the Saints (-5) so many gamblers had to settle for a push in the NFL opener.

189

Number of games that have passed since Wisconsin lost a home opener. The last occurred against Colorado in 1995 when they were walloped 43-7 but don’t expect that to happen this weekend. The 11th ranked Badgers are favored by 38 against the visiting San Jose State Spartans.

2

Number of games top HS recruit Nick O’Leary was suspended for after what is being called an “obscene gesture” after a game. The action in question was a middle finger and given the way the team was repeatedly screwed by the refs, a middle finger probably wasn’t enough. O’Leary, who is also the grandson of Jack Nicklaus, caught the winning TD but was called out of bounds. Replays showed otherwise. But to make matters worse, two other touchdowns were also called back and ultimately gave O’Leary’s team the loss.

6

Tim Tebow must have bought into his own hype earlier than others. Somewhere around his sophomore-junior year of high school, Tebow purchased timtebow.com. And now, almost a full six years later, the site is up and running. Given Tebow’s popularity, we fully expect it to be the most trafficked athlete website in the world by the end of the month. But his twitter account, nah, that pales in comparison to ultimate tweet junkie, Ochocinco.

32

Who says women’s tennis isn’t popular with the guys? More than two months ago, 32 prison inmates started a riot because they weren’t able to watch a quarterfinal Wimbledon match between Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters. Perhaps it was the short tennis skirts that got the fellas engines revving.

I’m not sure if that’s funny so much as it is ungodly uncomfortable. It’s always been my belief that TV people are so desperate to have content for their unnecessarily long shows that really anyone can get on a local TV news station so long as they know the right contact. If aliens landed tomorrow and all they could see was local news, they’d think our society was dominated by local fires, weather forecasts, and the exploits of adorable animals. Occasionally a combination of all three. We’re all onto your pyromania and constant theft of our umbrellas, Fluffy. We’re just waiting to find the evidence.

Andy Kaufman-esque yo-yo prankster confuses local TV news stations [BoingBoing]

Police take a woman into custody after they claim she was found holding a sword in a threatening manner.

They say it happened on West Johnson Street in River Falls Sunday morning. Officers say the woman was nude, holding the sword and was screaming. She was taken into custody and then moved to a medical facility.

I’m sure there’s a logical reason for this. Maybe she just had to fight off a hoard of zombies. Or maybe she just wanted to take a leisurely morning walk in the nude with her most favorite sword. People are too quick to judge others as having poor intentions. Just because someone walks over in the nude violently swinging a sword doesn’t mean that they’re a threat. That could just be how she says, “Hello” or “Pardon me neighbor, but do you have any sugar?” Here in America, we’re supposed to respect people’s personal differences, whether it be race, creed, or tendency to walk around butt naked swinging a sword. It’s no worse than Scientology.

[WQOW, Image Credit]

A drunken Santa Claus prompts a mom to call 911 after he stumbles into her yard apparently looking for his reindeer and scaring her kids.

Officers ticketed 55-year-old Thomas Arnold of Sparta for having an open beer in a car. The man driving that car, 47-year-old Kevin Arnold, was arrested for OWI.

But, the kids say they knew right away this Santa was a hoax.

“He smelled like alcohol. So I knew it wasn’t the real Santa because Santa doesn’t drink alcohol,” says 9-year-old Katie Dockerty.

[WEAU]

This might as well be the PSA video for it. Video is two years old from a MSU/Wisconsin game

Its one thing to get hit like that. But when your legs fly over your head, well then, I believe this man says it best

Bret Bielema is a genius. And by genius, I mean moron. Apparently, ‘ol Bret thinks it would be smart to spy on opposing players tweets.

“I’m probably not as good at it as I should be,” Bielema said. “What began to happen is, we would follow Twitter of opposing players. Find out things that they may say or may do.”

…”I used that to my advantage,” Bielema said.

Um, you know where I come from, that’s called one of two things

1) stalking
2) perverted old man trying to live vicariously through college students

There is no useful information on twitter. I highly doubt a player is going to post his teams scripted playbook against their next opponent. So essentially, Bielema is looking for personal info to use.

A kid breaks up with his girlfriend, he tweets about being depressed.
Does Bielema tell his players to use the girlfriends name to get underneath the players skin?

A player says he’s upset about playing time…
Does Bret try to lure them to mighty Wisconsin…

What exactly is he trying to do here? These kids, after all, are student athletes. Exposing their personal lives for “personal gain”?

Wow. Join the exclusive club of sleazy college coaches Bielema. I think John Calipari and Rick Pitino are slated to do the induction ceremony.

One day after complaining about Big Ten officiating, I may have to swallow my words. For once, Bo’s boys weren’t able to hang their hat on their supposed home court advantage and were taking to the woodshed by Minnesota’s press defense.

Up about 10 with 4 minutes to go, the Gophers were able to send the game into overtime and steal a victory at the Kohl Center.

I believe Bo Ryan’s reaction in this picture is “Argh”

I thought National Talk Like a Pirate Day already passed.

Must have mislabeled it on the calendar.

As a Spartan fan, I would like to thank Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema for his numerous F-ups this past weekend and handing us the game on a silver platter.

I’m willing to give Brett the benefit of the doubt though. After all, it was the day after Halloween and he may have been trying to dress up as John L Smith.

That was the only logical conclusion I could come up with as Bielema called timeout while MSU ran their field goal team on with less than 20 seconds left in the game.

WIth MSU having no timeouts, and no opportunity to spike the ball, they hurried FG kicker Brett Swenson for what many call “fast-field goal”

Bielema claimed after the game that he wanted to set up his FG block team.

Is there any other coach in NCAA football with a brain that would have done this?

I would take a hurried field goal in a heartbeat over one where guys are set up and time is not an issue.

Combine that with Bielema’s multiple sideline warning penalties and an unsportsmanlike penalty that aided a MSU touchdown, and its surprising that he hasn’t been hung in effigy sighting in Madison yet.

The video after the jump…

You might see the beginning of a new epic, “When Mascots attack”…

Speaking of Sparty, he’ll take on your whole team…

You might see Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema sprint across the field to intimidate his competition…

and…

You might see some hot MSU coeds

You can’t help but lick your chops if you’re a Badger or Spartan fan today. You got taken to the woodshed last night and it wasn’t pretty.

In Wisconsin’s case, they had the better team but couldn’t overcome a player, who was more than likely the best player on the court.

In MSU’s case, they simply did not have enough talent and athleticism to match Memphis.

It was a testament to how bad the Big Ten has become as of late.

As much as people love to talk about how good of a coach Bo Ryan is, he has yet to deliver any success when it counts. The best seed Ryan has beat in his tenure as a Wisconsin coach is 9th seeded St. Joseph in 2002.

Is it truly a wonder why his teams have so much success in Big Ten play but are disgustingly fraudulent in the tournament?

The half-court play, the repeated motion, the non-athletes just doesn’t cut it come March.

And MSU, well, they perpetuated this style by playing down to their competitors in Big Ten play. Walking it up, not pressuring the ball, not letting the athletes they have dictate the tempo of the game.

Answer this truthfully:

If you lined up MSUs players in a gym against Iowa’s players and just told them to play to 100, no organization, no sets, who would win?

I can guarantee you that MSU would win 90% of the time, if not more. So why have we complicated it in Big Ten play? Why has Izzo let his players play down to the competition?

It certainly did not help them that dreadful day in Iowa City and it for sure didn’t help them last night. When MSU finally adjusted in the second half and brought in their athletes and let them play, they were more than competitive. Yes, Memphis brought their intensity down a notch but I think they can even admit that the Spartans looked like a better team in the second half.

So I hope, as a Spartan fan, that Izzo looks to let his players play next year. Let them dictate the tempo, let them attack the basket at will and force the other team to adjust to them and not the other way around.

But if you are a Badger fan, I would be more concerned because with Ryan as coach, you will never get to a Final Four. You will never win a National Championship playing the way you do.

Its a sad reality to face for Badger Nation.

Michigan State 67
Ohio State 60

Illinois 74
Purdue 67

Minnesota 59
Indiana 58

Want to rant about the game? Want to hear me rant on the game? Well, you got it. MSU faces Wisconsin in a big road game tonight at 9pm.

I’ll be keeping you up to date with scores, highlights, and thoughts with my profrane laden running commentary.

And even if nobody else is listening, who cares. It’ll give me something to do for a couple of hours.

9pm tipoff…GO STATE!

5:35 pm

Girlfriend just called. I am banning her from watching the game with me. She’s bad luck. Every time she’s around, the Spartans seem to lose. Maybe thats why MSU has been playing so bad on the road. Dammit woman!

7:15pm

This is a PSA for Children’s Hospital of Detroit, Michigan. Please vote for them to get a Fun Center for Sickle Cell Patients. Its a great cause and Children’s Hospital could really use it. Tom Izzo approves of this message!

Vote Here!

7:35pm

What are your predictions for the game? Guyism doesn’t feel confident. MSU loses 62-56.

8:00pm

]]> http://guyism.com/sports/msu-at-wisconsin-live-blog.html/feed 14 MSU at Wisconsin Live Blog!