Never heard of him. That's not exactly true. We were like brothers.

From espn.com 3-30-05 regarding several active and former Carolina Panthers players obtaining steroid prescriptions days after Super Bowl 38:

CBS said Mitchell and Steussie did not respond to repeated calls and letters seeking comment. The network said that when it contacted Sauerbrun by phone, and asked him about Shortt, the punter said, "I like the guy very much."

Ten minutes later, CBS said, Sauerbrun called back to say he had been confused and that he did not know Shortt.
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You wonder what phone conversation took place in the interim - a call to an agent perhaps? Or a PR guy? "Yeah, what's up with this Shortt guy everyone's calling me about? Under investigation by the DEA? Really? Oh. Have to call CBS back, gotta go."

Somewhere, a Gramatica brother is laughing.

not a "friendly"

Mexico defeated the US in soccer today 2-1 in a World Cup qualifying round, as fans chanted "Osama, Osama."see story here

There's such a thing as being patriotic, and there's just being idiotic. Sometimes people confuse the two.

It would be nice to see their faces when we eliminate Mexico from the World Cup. Again.

So long, Devils

Michigan State edged Duke last night, 78-68. At the 3:12 mark in the 2nd half, Daniel Ewing hit a 3 to bring Duke within 3 at 66-63, but that's the closest they would get. Sheldon Williams fouled out at 2:47 and effectively Duke's season was over. Shavlik Randolph came up small again, getting as many turnovers (2) as rebounds, and did not score. Give credit to MSU - they were faster, bigger and more aggressive when it counted. They shut down J.J. Redick (13 points, or 16 fewer than when the 2 teams played November 30th). They shut down the middle. And did I forget to mention that Duke had as many turnovers (22) as field goals? Ugh.

In retrospect, Duke went deeper into the tourney than was expected at the start of the season. Given their lack of depth, Coach K held this squad together with duct tape, and more often than not in the 2nd half of their season, they resembled Wisconsin and Princeton much more than North Carolina or Wake Forest. They were a squad happy to keep the score in the 60s. Unfortunately for Duke last night, Michigan State was in the 70s.

on the other hand...

Highlight of a discussion from March 15, Comcast SportsNet's Daily News Live, on the strug-gul-ing Sixers:

Rich Hofmann: They can reach 40.
Dei Lynam: They will NOT get to 40.
Hofmann: What do they have to go?
Phil Jasner: 10-9.
Hofmann: They can do that.
Jasner: OK.
Lynam: They haven't played above .500 all year.
Hofmann: I see a surge...

The entire set laughed at that point.
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Jim O'Brien will NOT be back next year as coach of this team. No way. Players not named Iverson have no clue how much they'll play from night to night. The defense is horrible. C-Webb has no idea how to contribute in an offense that doesn't revolve around him, but it's not like Iverson is helping him. Or at least based on their performance, that's what it looks like. Bad. Maybe some Earth-shattering trades for Kwame Brown and Darko are needed to shake things up. Or trade for an all-Duke lineup.

Sweet 16

Things are looking good for Carolina. I don't see a Duke-UNC matchup in the Final 4, even as a Duke fan. UK is just too tough. And no idea how MSU will play. Duke has to play much, much better. Jay Bilas made an interesting point on PTI yesterday - normally, Duke wants as many possessions as possible. This year, because of depth issues, they want fewer possessions, hence scores in the 50s and 60s.