ESPN Continues to Alienate Fans

ESPN is at it again. The "Worldwide Leader," responsible for such mind numbing ideas like "Who's Now," on its website today is leading with an article assessing how Lebron James would perform in the NFL. The discussion features an article by Tim Graham and video from the "NFL Live" panel speculating on what would be Lebron's ideal position in the NFL. Seriously? Clearly, ESPN has too many analysts and writers on payroll who specialize in the NFL that have absolutely nothing to do right now. So ESPN decides to make its "talent" earn their paychecks by insulting the intelligence of the fans who flock to their network and website as it force feeds an utterly ridiculous discussion.

How would Lebron fare in the NFL? Who knows and Who Cares. Any savvy sports fan understands that the mere idea is unrealistic. Lebron James plays basketball and played all of two years of football back in high school. Projecting if he could play in the NFL based on that body of work is illogical and a complete waste of time. Surely, ESPN has something better to feature on the front page of its website. Apparently not.

Such foolish nonsense has become all too familiar at ESPN as the media giants constantly tries too hard to please both hardcore and casual sport fans at the same time. What they have actually managed to do over the last handful of years is alienate the passionate, knowledge sports fan by dumbing down their product and coverage with the nauseating self-promotion of its on-air talent and coddling of the sports figures they cover.

Maybe tomorrow ESPN could lead with a story on the prospects of Yao Ming playing wide receiver. Who would be able to cover Yao in the red zone?

After Celtics - Bulls, Now What?

Are the NBA Playoffs watchable going forward? It has been widely assumed, even before the playoffs began, that Lebron and Kobe will be meeting in the NBA Finals. So why would any basketball fan even watch? Then the Celtics - Bulls series happened. Critics can argue all day attempting to rate the series among the best of all-time. At the end of the day who cares where the series ranks. The bottom line is that the series captured people's attention and was the only first round playoff series worth watching. So now that the series is over and the Celtics have moved on, what does the NBA have to offer? None of the second round series have much intrigue and the Finals are more than a month away. The most competitive of the bunch again features the Celtics as they face the Orlando Magic.

Tonight was Game 1 in Boston and most viewers were probably watching Red Sox - Yankees especially after the Magic opened up a 28 point lead. That means most people missed the Celtics near comeback before falling 95-90. One major reason for the Celtics down performance was Ray Allen scoring only 9 points on 2-12 shooting. Anyone paying attention has noticed that the former UConn star is the key to the Celtics success. Lost in all the excitement of the first round was just how poor Paul Pierce played for Boston. As much as he did to win game 5, he did even more to lose game 6 against Chicago. Allen was unstoppable against the Bulls and is a much more efficient offensive player than Pierce. If the Celtics are going to continue their run without Kevin Garnett, Allen must continue to be their top offensive weapon. But in the end, will anybody be watching?

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Will the real Michigan State please stand up.. please stand up

By Be Nasty

Michigan State proved once again how pathetic of a team they are (as I correctly predicted by that way, scroll down). They were manhandled from the start of the game and North Carolina was toying with them the whole second half. This game reminds me of the Rose Bowl this year when Pete Carroll called off the dogs during the third quarter so his USC Trojans didn't thoroughly embarrass Penn State and its do-nothing coach.

I am so sick and tired of Big 11 teams being allowed to play for National Championships and giving us such boring games that I am assembling an army of lobbyists to descend on Washington to pass legislation banning any Big 11 team from competing in future championship games. To aid me in this endeavor I urge everyone of you who values sports to call your Senators and Representatives and tell them they need to vote for this bill as it is the only way to save us from this garbage produced on a yearly basis by the worst "BCS" conference in America.

Final Four-tune

More on the Final Four games from over the weekend coming soon. In the meantime, here is a conversation between G. Francis, BS CEO, and the Bleeding Sports GM, Mr. Be Nasty. Mr. Nasty was kind enough to share his thoughts and give a prediction on the outcome of tonight's National Championship game between North Carolina and Michigan State. It almost makes up for him not submitting a bracket for March Madness.

G. Francis: Do you think Michigan State has a chance tonight?

Be Nasty: Hell no.

G. Francis: UNC is favored by 7.5.

Be Nasty: UNC by 47.5 I HATE MICHIGAN STATE. THEY ARE NOT GOOD. THEY PLAY IN THE BIG 11.

So there you have it folks. The Spartans have no shot this evening. 60,000 rapid MSU fans packing Ford Field? Forget about it. A non-factor. The Spartans prowess on the boards against a poor rebounding UNC squad? Doesn't matter. UNC never misses anyhow.

Be Nasty has spoken. Take it to the bank. The North Carolina Tar Heels are the 2009 National Champions.

NCAA Tournament Predictions

The Bleeding Sports Brain Trust is ready to share their "expert" opinions on who will be crowned the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champion. On to the brackets...

Click on the brackets for optimal viewing.

J. Daniels - The Pickmeister
The self proclaimed "winning bracket"...

G. Francis - BS CEO

Mid Major Madness?

Could this be another big year for the mid-majors come NCAA tournament time? Discounting Gonzaga, who has shed their mid-major status, there has been very little conversation this season about any mid-major squads not named Davidson. The problem now is that Stephen Curry and company will be watching the big dance at home this year. While most prognosticators believe that the field is very top heavy, this year’s tournament feels like one that will have upsets aplenty.

The bottom line is that there just are not very many elite teams this year in college basketball. Sure, there is North Carolina, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Memphis, Duke, and Oklahoma at the very top of brackets. But compared to past years, even the elite teams this year are not up to par with the top seeds in past tournaments. The #1 overall seed in the tournament, Louisville, has losses to Western Kentucky, UNLV, and was blown out at Notre Dame. Every team is this tournament is vulnerable to an upset.

Once you start to look past the top seeds the field is even more wide open. How does someone differentiate between all those teams that were muddled together in the Big Ten, ACC, and SEC from some of teams from the mid-major conferences? The tournament selection committee filled most of the at-large bids with teams from the power conferences, but the mid-majors that are in tournament have a chance to make some noise this season. Here are three mid-majors that could cause the biggest stir on the road to the Final Four:

Siena

The Saints were one of the few mid-majors that received a lot of love from the selection committee. Thanks to tough out of conference schedule and a top 20 RPI, Siena was awarded a #9 seed in the Midwest region. Awaiting the Saints is a match-up with Ohio State in Dayton. Despite playing what is essentially a road game against a Big Ten squad, the Saints have the ability to pull the upset. Last year, as a #13 seed, the Saints spanked Vanderbilt in the first round and return all five starters from last year’s team. That experience combined with explosive perimeter players in Kenny Hasbrouck, Ronald Moore, and Edwin Ubiles will make the Saints a tough out. A potential second round match-up with Louisville would make for an exciting up and down the court affair Sunday night.

Cleveland State

The Vikings won at Syracuse earlier in the year on a last second heave and defeated a very good Butler team in their conference championship game to make the tournament. The squad is led by seniors guard Cedric Jackson, a former transfer from St. John’s, and forward J’Nathan Bullock. Their first round opponent, Wake Forest, have the potential to play at a very high level, but the Demon Deacons has been very inconsistent the second half of the season. If Cleveland State can keep the game at their tempo and slow down Wake, the Vikings have a good chance to pull of the upset in Miami. The winner of this game plays either Utah or Arizona in the second round. If the Vikings can get by Wake they have an excellent chance to make a surprise run into the Sweet 16.

Virginia Commonwealth

The VCU Rams are no strangers to making noise in the NCAA tournament. College basketball fans remember their upset of Duke in the first round of the 2007 tourney. The star guard who hit the jumper to win the game was a sophomore named Eric Maynor. Maynor is now a senior and one the best point guards in the country as he leads the Rams back into the NCAA tournament after VCU missed out last season. The Rams were upset in the CAA conference tournament after a dominant regular season and snubbed an at-large bid in 2008. This year, the Rams won both the regular season and conference tournament championship and Maynor brings some interior help with him to the tourney this time in sophomore sensation Larry Sanders. VCU looks poised to make a big run in the tournament this season before their rising star head coach, Anthony Grant, likely heads off to take the Virginia job. The Rams road won’t be easy with a first round match-up with UCLA and potential second round date with Villanova. Watching two of the nation’s best at the point, Maynor and UCLA’s Darren Collison, go at it will be one of the highlights of the first round.