Durzblog

Lets be honest, if it were not for those WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS, I would have been in full college basketball mode long ago. This is my Christmas season of sports, March is soo close you can feel it. So I am going to have a look at the hoops line-up (the crux of my attention for the next 10 weeks) and a few other items I will be keeping an eye on this weekend. Least interesting first and most (Uconn) last. Looking at actual events here -- so there will be no mention of Schilling's arm, Roger's ass, Mrs Clemens on juice, Dominican cockfighting, Diesel to Phoenix or Hillary's campaign funding....

Away we go.
Texas Tech at Nebraska
What can I say, after the emotion and candor involved in his post game interview after losing to Baylor, I really like Pat Knight. This will be a great opportunity to pick up win number one -- just 900 behind his dad. I pick TT by 11

BC at Duke -- Does the fun ever start?
This game will be watchable in that Mike Patrick won't be calling the action. If I hear him say something like "can you believe this!!!!" on an open made three by Duke again I might just die -- I loathe him. Whats the draw here Brendan? Aside from the more partial CBS reporting, its always fun to watch the BC Beagles get it handed to them for some reason. Looks like Handsome Al (the loan good thing about BC athletics) will be leading his troops to the NIT this year. Duke, on the other hand, will get a high seed and lose in the second round and the star coach and PG will cry. That and Puxatony Phil declaring a long winter are whats left of the sure things in this world. Duke (and the uber annoying Greg Paulus, check this out) by 18.

Georgetown at Louisville
The Hoyas will be tested as the travel to Denny Crum Court to take on the Cardinals in a upper echelon Big East tilt. Pitino's boys have the size to play with G-town it will just come down to who shoots it better. Husky and Irish fans will be pulling for the Ville in hopes of tightening up the race for league honors. I like Louisville by 6

Georgia Tech at Uconn
The Ramblin' Wreck head into the Harry A Gampel Pavilion on Saturday in an ACC/BE contest. Last years meeting went to Tech in the Georgia Dome and the Jackets are coming in on the heels of a four game winning streak -- 3 of them on the road. Connecticut will look to make it 7 in a row, but this game will be no pushover, GT's record is deceiving. I expect Stanley Robinson to score more and perhaps Adrien less than they did up at the Carrier Dome. turnovers, foul shots, blah, blah, blah will be key as always. If the Huskies play hard today and get anything off the bench this should be a manageable contest for them, Calhoun is just hoping that team who showed vs Providence is gone forever. Connecticut exacts some revenge -- win by 9



Other Notes...Catch Michael Bolton, Kenny G, Andy Garcia, Danny Gans, George Lopez and a whole host of others slow down play at Pebble Beach this weekend. I watched a bit yesterday and it was tough to watch Chis Berman walk at times, looked like he was really hurting. Once the CBS coverage comes on this weekend and the horror of listening to the Nick Faldo/Kelly Tilghman duo has subsided, the tournament usually ends pretty well and the field is good. The setting is unmatched, Timmy Herron is my pick...Liverpool heads to Stamford Bridge looking to get back to Champions League position while the hosts are trying to stay within striking distance of Arsenal...The once again struggling Rangers are traveling this weekend; against the dirty Flyers on Saturday and to the nation's capital to take on the Ovechkins Sunday.

Enjoy all that action, and I believe that my wife (Kristin -- one of the few supporters out there of the game) said the Pro Bowl is this weekend.