Welcome to Bubbleville

What a night in Bubbleville! (it's a suburb of Bracketville for those of you who are geography challenged). But since I promised you a sprinking of other sports, we'll save the really good college basketball discussion for the bottom...

Today marks the start of the inagural World Baseball Classic, an event that has received much criticism over the last couple of weeks. It is a strange phenomenon the way certain things get surrounded by a negative buzz and the overall level of criticism begins to snowball. I remember it happening with the movie Titanic. One day, it is one of the best movies ever made and the next, admitting that you like it is akin to confessing that you thought that Cop Rock was a great show and should have never been taken off the air. It has happened with reality television. My hip-hop fans tell me that the phenomenon is currently plauging the Black Eyed Peas. And now it is happening to the World Baseball Classic.

I know the arguments regarding why some players may be better served if they elected not to play, by why so much venom? Is the WBC really such a terrible idea? Is the thought of the USA's Derek Jeter batting against the Big Z with the tying run on third and two outs in the ninth inning of a tie game really that unappealing? I, for one, love the concept. I mean, really sit back and think about it. Getting the absolute best players in the world on a single stage, fighting with everything that they have for their country (and you better believe that the Latin American players will be fighting with every ounce of blood, sweat and tears in their bodies) is, in my mind, a great idea and one that will help in the globalization of America's pastime. Are injuries a possibility? Yes. Will I be angry as all get out if D Lee pulls a hammy and the Cubs struggle to open the season? Yes. But you know what? Professional athletes have proven time and time again that they don't have to be playing their chosen sport to get injured. It can happen anytime. An untimely sneeze. A dog at the bottom of the stairs. An empty bottle of tequila on the driveway at Terrell Davis' house. (Three gold stars to anyone who got all three references).

My only complaint is the timing. March? C'mon MLB and ESPN, like we have nothing better to watch...

Of course, given that it is March, we could be watching...the Bulls. I saw where Chris Duhon is day-to-day with a bruised jaw. The story is that he was inadvertently elbowed by Ben Gordon in practice. My question is: how in the world is Duhon even practicing? What, with the injured ribs and all...

Speaking of the NBA, reports are surfacing that Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko has recently become a restricted free agent of sorts. According to an upcoming story in ESPN The Magazine, Kirilenko's Russian rock-star wife has informed Andrei that he is allowed to sleep with another woman once a year. Apparently Ms. Kirilenko feels that temptation is much greater whan the desired is forbidden and that "it is not cheating if I know about it." Adding to the story is the fact that there is no reciprocity arrangement. I'm sure that you agree that there really is not much more that needs to be said about this story so I'll just leave it alone.

The Blackhawks returned from the Olympic break with a resounding 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators. Looks like that hiring of skating coach Dan Jansen is finally paying off...

By the way, the Blackhawks play a sport called ice hockey. In Chicago. With sticks and pucks. And nets. And it is my understanding that nachos are plentiful in the press box. Just want to make sure that everyone is up to speed.

Okay, that's enough of that. As I mentioned earlier, it was a crazy night in Bubbleville. Florida State, Texas A & M and Kentucky notched huge, committee attention-grabbing wins to strengthen their case for an at-large bid. Virginia got demolished at Carolina to end any hope that they still held on to and Colorado looked terrible in a loss to the Team-who-must-not-be-named.

That said, there are a lot of bracketologists that are ready to stamp Florida State, Texas A & M and Kentucky's tickets to the dance this morning. [Buzzer Sound] Wrong. Let me take this opportunity to remind you of a truism: never overreact to a single game. While the wins by the 'Noles and Aggies certainly were impressive, a look at their overall resume still shows a lot of holes. Will they get in? It is a definite possibility, but by no means is their work completed (for the record, Kentucky probably iced a bid with their victory over sweaty Bruce Pearl and Tennessee).

Tonight is is UAB's turn to impress the committee, as the Blazers host possible number 1 seed Memphis. California also has a big opportunity and a home win over UCLA will move them into the NCAA lock column. Syracuse would be wise not to slip up at Allstate Arena against the Blue Demons, while five different conferences have tournament action. For those of you who are nuts like me, Libscomb has already posted a 78-62 win over Mercer this afternoon in the Atlantic Sun. Mercer...you're OUT!!!!

Speaking of the Florida State win over Duke, a little birdy told me that a certain Duke alumni was none to happy with the officiating during last night's game. First the facts...Florida State shot 40 free throws and Duke only attempted 17. Duke was whistled for 30 fouls, Florida State only 18. Hmmm...where was the game? In Tallahassee, eh? Interesting.

Now, let me start off by admitting that I did not see the game. That said, I'm sure that all of you loyal and devoted readers of the Random Thoughts can pretty easily figure out my gut reaction to such a scenario. If not, I recommend that you re-enroll in "Dan's Primer on Home-Court Officiating 101." My only question...how many cheap offensive fouls did the over-excited, caught-in-the-moment referees call on the Blue Devils simply because the crowd was in a frenzy? Having not seen the game, I'd put the over/under at four.

Duke fans are not the only ones upset with the recent officiating. After last Monday night's San Diego- Gonzaga game in Spokane, the San Diego coach commented that the officials are completely intimidated by the Gonzaga fans and that the little overrated school in the Northwest gets all of the calls. The coach went on to say that every coach in the West Coast Conference feels the same way, but only he is willing to admit. Once again, my gut tells me that the Eminem of the WCC is probably dead-on, although it is likley not the fans that are intimidating the refs but rather the possiblity that Adam Morrison will take them into the parking lot and paddle the heck out of them after the game. I imagine he learned such a skill while on the set of Dazed and Confused. With that hair and that mustache, I'm figuring he had to be an extra in that movie somewhere. In fact, I think I saw him standing right next to Slater during the kegger.

Interesting, yet stupid, fact of the day: Marist junior Miles Orman is the son of Gordon from Sesame Street. Facing a potential semifinal matchup with I-O-N-A in the MAAC tournament, I'll bet that Miles wishes that the Red Foxes had Big Bird in the post.

Finally, I am absolutely delighted to have been wrong about Indiana last night in their game with Purdue. In listing my five reasons why IU would lose, I seem to have completely forgotten that Purdue no longer has Glen Robinson, Cuonzo Martin or Joe Barry Carroll. Instead they have Bobby Riddell (wasn't he one of Richie Cunningham's friends? No wait, wasn't he one of the T-Birds who hung around with Kenicke?). The bottom line is that Indiana's win puts them in decent shape to grab an at-large bid.

Finally, the national media is having an absolute field day with the Hoosier coach vacancy. "It's going to be Isiah Thomas. No, it will be Damon Bailey. Bob Knight is coming back. Joe Paterno needs a new challenge. Michael J. Fox's character from Teen Wolf would make a great coach. Blah. Blah. Blah." Please ignore all of this craziness. Indiana does not need any selfish ex-Bulls who stink, so that eliminates Thomas. Damon Bailey is too busy living off his 8th grade memories etc. etc. etc. The media simply does not know any more than me regarding the coachin search. In fact, at least one media outlet seems to be using me as a source. MSNBC ran an online story the other day, in which they noted that the perfect coach would be...Norman Dale. Hey! Thief! Looks like I had better dust off the old intellectual property lawbook and reaquaint myself with the location of the Courthouse. Somebody is stealing my stuff!

Until tomorrow...