10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (3-14-11)

10. NFL Lockout Begins

            For some reason, the players are demanding 10 years of audited financial data for every team before negotiations can be continued. What this has to do with actual football, I’m not really sure. The bottom line is that there’s plenty of evidence out there (read this piece by ESPN's Lester Munson, because he knows much more about the law and anti-trust suits than I do) that the owners have been planning a lockout ever since the reached a collective bargaining agreement in 2006 that gave the players 60% of all revenue generated by the league. Armed with this knowledge, the players union has gone on the offensive in looking to obtain better health benefits for retired players, and maintain the current revenue set-up. I’ve said all along that both sides would be stupid to risk games in pursuit of money (the NFL did have record TV ratings all season long in 2010), but it seems like they may be that stupid after all.

9. UFC Purchases Strikeforce

            It’s unclear whether or not Strikeforce will remain as it’s own separate entity or be merged into UFC, but this combination should produce intriguing future match-ups.

8. Ohio State Awarded #1 Seed in NCAA Tournament

            You can’t really argue with this, as Ohio State was the most consistent team all season long. They’ll more than likely see a pesky George Mason team in round 2 (or is round three now? I have no idea with this crazy expansion to 68 teams), and then have to face either North Carolina or Connecticut for the right to make the Final 4.

            While I’m here, this is a great opportunity to remind you about the No Credentials At All Tournament Pick ‘Em group on Yahoo. It’s free to join, so sign up now (information on how to join is on the top right corner of this page).

7. Capitals Win 8^th Straight Game in OT Over Blackhawks

            I was fortunate enough to catch the last minute and a half of this game. Washington has offense for days, but will need one of their young goalies to step up and take care of business in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

6. Harrison Barnes Scores 40 to Lead UNC Over Clemson in Overtime

            I’m not going to sit here and guarantee that Barnes will be a superstar in the NBA, but there is no reason that any other player should be taken before him in the NBA draft this summer.

5. Jimmer Drops 52 on New Mexico

            Jimmer Fredette went bonkers, making 22 of 37 shots. It’s a shame their second best player got booted off the team, because this team could’ve made a lot of noise in the tournament. Jimmer will have to drop 30 a game for them to have a shot at making the Elite 8.

4. Duke Hammers North Carolina to Win ACC Tournament

            North Carolina looked like they were out of gas after pulling off two straight comebacks. Both teams will have a chance at making it to the Final Four (Duke as a #1 seed, North Carolina as a #2).

3. Celtics Hold Milwaukee to 56 Points

            Watching the Bucks try to score on Sunday was like watching my 8-month old son try to feed himself.

2. Connecticut Wins Big East Championship Game Over Louisville

            The Big East is comically oversized (seriously, a conference tournament that runs from Tuesday through Saturday is ridiculous), but that doesn’t diminish the Huskies’ accomplishment. Winning five games in five days, with three is of those victories coming against ranked opponents, is arguably as impressive a feat as winning the entire NCAA tournament. We’ll see if they have any legs left against Bucknell. 

1. Fennville High Wins Class “C” Michigan State Title in Boys Basketball

            It won’t be very often that you’ll see a high school sports story on this list, but this one is truly special.

10 Awesome Things That Happened Last Weekend (1/28-1/30)

10. Former American Idol Winner Kris Allen Sings National Anthem at Pro Bowl

            This is on the heals of Fox planting last year’s winner into the halftime show at the Bears-Packers game (note to NFL teams: Don’t hire struggling reality show winners as your halftime entertainment. It’s not good karma). I can appreciate the efforts of Fox trying to raise the profile of these two singers, but at some point they have to realize that the majority of America doesn’t care about them. What’s next, fat Ruben singing before the Daytona 500?

9. “Grey’s Anatomy” Star Patrick Dempsey Finishes 3^rd at Daytona Rolex 24

            I’ve never watched “Grey’s”, and have very little knowledge of a guy who is referred to as “McDreamy” by TV Guide, but it’s not every day you see an actor for a chick-show finish well in one of the most prestigious auto races in the world. This isn’t just some celebrity race. These cars get up to 200 mph. I’m not sure how he finds time for this hobby, but kudos to him.

8. St. John’s Destroys #3 Duke

            You either hate Duke or you love Duke. There is no middle ground. Being in the first group, I was pleased with this result.

            I’ve never understood why St. John’s has struggled for the last 20 years. The college is in New York City, the Mecca of basketball. They play their home games in Madison Square Garden. How do they not get a top-5 recruiting class every single year? It’s never made sense. Now that they have former UCLA coach Steve Lavin (and more importantly, Steve Lavin’s hair. Have you ever seen Lavin’s hair? It should have its own Twitter account), St. John’s should be able to capitalize on their prime location.

7. Djokovic Wins Australian Open

            I know as much about tennis as the Kardashian sisters know about calculus, but I do know that Djokovic is kind of an asshole (which I like in an individual sport). And he has two funny consonants at the beginning of his name. I hope he makes a good run at Wimbledon. 

6. Team Lidstrom Beats Team Staal 11-10 in NHL All-Star Game

            It was an entertaining game, but I had a hard time trying to pick which team to cheer for, or figure out who was on which team. Hopefully next year we can get the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry at the forefront of this game.

5. Miami Holds Off Thunder

            Sunday’s game between Durant and Lebron was an oddly paced affair. It started as a wide-open game (38-35 at the end of the first quarter) and then ended as a defensive battle. As currently constructed, the Thunder doesn’t have a strong enough post player to take advantage of Miami’s weakness in the paint. Miami finally put its best crunch time lineup on the floor (Lebron at the point, Wade and Mike Miller on the wings, Bosh in the post, and some stiff filling the 5^th spot) in the last 5 minutes that proved to be effective. The “stiff spot” (sounds dirty, but in this case, it isn’t) actually proved to be valuable for Miami, as they are able to use the spot on a bigger guy when needed (Joel Anthony, Big Z), or a 3-point specialist (James Jones, Eddie House’s carcass that somehow hit the go ahead shot on Sunday). Miami is a half-court offense away from being a very dangerous team.

4. Zdeno Chara Shoots a Puck 105.9 mph. During Skills Competition

            For those of you not in the know, that’s really, really hard. Chara looks like these creature that was created by Dr. Frankenstein whose sole purpose is to fire slap shots and crush people. Also, he’s the second person mentioned in this column that has two weird consonants as the first two letters of his name. 

3. O.J. Mayo Claims Energy Drink Caused Failed Drug Test

            No word yet on whether Mayo is also blaming the energy drink for being the reason he’s only averaging 12 points per game. Memphis has some nice pieces in place (Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley), which in my opinion means they should look to move Mayo for draft picks. They’re already using their designated “crazy dude” spot on Randolph.

2. Celtics Defeat Lakers

            What do you get when you have a team with a chip on its shoulder playing a team that doesn’t care until the playoffs? The game we saw yesterday between Boston and the Lakers.

            Apparently there’s major panic going on in Los Angeles over the state of the Lakers. Some callers on sports radio shows have suggested everything from trading Andrew Bynum for Carmelo Anthony, starting Lamar Odom at point guard, and even trading Kobe Bryant. While those are all amusing suggestions, we won’t know what this Lakers team is capable of until we get to April. If Ron Artest can rediscover the desire to play lockdown defense, they will still be the favorites in the Western Conference.

1. NHL Hold’s First Ever Fantasy Draft to Select All-Star Rosters

            This event was five times more interesting than the actual All-Star Game. On paper, watching socially awkward hockey players sitting around in suits waiting to get picked onto a side may not sound like a strong television program, but it was a fascinating watch. The NBA needs to just blatantly copy this for next years game, and maybe if the Pro Bowl squads were picked this way, and the winning side could split $1 million, we’d see an actual football game.