All Over the Place

With things a little slow-moving this week, here are some random odds and ends:

I found this question from the weekly TarheelBlue mailbag kind of interesting

Q:What did you think about the pro-UNC crowd cheering on Miss. St vs Duke? I HATE Duke during the regular season and ACC tournament as much as the next UNC fan; however, during the NCAA tourney I am pro ACC --- ALL ACC. If Carolina gets knocked out...I want Duke out that same round or before; however, as long as Carolina is still in I will cheer Duke on (as awful as that sounds). What are your thoughts?

-Drew Wilson, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

If you want to read the actual answer you can go here. My answer is a pretty easy one: I too was cheering for Miss. St., and under no circumstances would I ever want Duke to win. Ever. They could be representing the USA in the Olympics, but if they're wearing their Duke uniforms, I hope they lose. It could be the early '80s and Duke could be matched up against the Russians, and I'd be pulling for the Russians. The Osama Bin Laden All-Stars could come to Cameron on an exhibition tour, and I'd probably hope for a 0-0 tie (although, I would give Shelden Williams and Shavlik Randolph 80 fouls each and tell them to go nuts).

OK, I think you get the point. As a Carolina fan it goes against human nature to hope Duke does well. Of course, during the 1980's and early 1990's I felt the same way about NC State, but they haven't since had the success (or the pomposity) of the Blue Devils, so my feelings for them are a little less ardent. In fact, I really didn't object to them beating UConn. Wake's a gray area, however. They've been the bridesmaid for so, so many years now, I almost pull for them the same way people used to pull for the Red Sox. But with the arrival of Chris Paul, this team is one of the best in the nation, and while I usually wish them well during most regular season games, I was actually a West Virginia fan last weekend.

That said, I certainly don't have anywhere near the animosity for the Demon Deacons or the Wolfpack that I have for the Blue Devils. I mean, the list of "Great Duke Players I Really Hate" is twice as long as the list of "Other Teams' Players That I Found Mildly Annoying." And that goes a long ways in making it very easy to hope Duke fails. That, and when they lose you get to see all the players crying and hugging Coach K, like the last episode in the "Real World", when all the housemates (after having tried to kill, screw, and then kill again) have a big group cry and hug session, followed by the requisite appearance on "Road Rules/Real World Challenge" officially documenting the end to their television careers (until they inevitably show up on the "Surreal Life").

Plus, all the Duke crying helps soften the media scrutiny surrounding the Roy Williams crying. Either way, I hope Duke loses.

***
I just found this -- Dave's Top 10 List from this Monday night:

Top Ten Questions Congress Forgot To Ask Baseball Players:
10. Who does Pete Rose have in his NCAA pool?

9. Why is Bud Selig so damn creepy?

8. Ever snort rosin?

7. How will all this affect the value of my baseball card collection?

6. Mr. Palmeiro, are you more embarrassed by the steroids scandal or those Viagra commercials?

5. Can we really call this a hearing if none of you are saying anything?

4. Barney Frank wants to know if Johnny Damon is single.

3. Can you think of a better way to waste taxpayer's money?

2. We should have invited David Wells - at least he'd bring beer.

1. Why don't the Mets take performance-enhancing drugs?"

***
When did Barry Bonds become the victim? I saw part of his interview last night when he said he was mentally tired and beaten down and blamed it on the media. My favorite part game during this exchange:

"You wanted me to jump off the bridge, I finally have jumped. You wanted to bring me down. You've finally brought me and my family down. Finally done it.

When someone off camera asked Bonds who specifically he was referring to with "you," he said:

You. And you, and you, and you, and you. From everybody, all of you. So now go pick a different person. I'm done. Do the best I can, that's about it."

As soon as the guy asked the question, you knew it was coming, but it was still fun to watch. Anytime you can blame everyone present playing the "you" game, you have to do it. Even if in this particular case, where it's obvious to just about everyone that Bonds' most assuredly isn't the victim, and in all likelihood, will probably be implicated at some point as a steroid user (or maybe not; remember, innocent until proven guilty -- even if your head swelled to three times its normal size and you gained 50 pounds of muscle -- this could all be part of the natural aging process).

If Bonds really wanted to maximize the victim angle yesterday, he should've propped himself up with his crutch, while looking quite despondent, but instead of making the statement, he should've had his interpreter do it for him.