2 comments 3 Things For Saturday

First, I want everyone to see Bill Simmons' bracket. Somehow he is worse at picking college basketball games than he is at picking the NFL games. I am sure the SimmonsClones will get angry with me for knocking their main man's picks...but that Midwest bracket is fucked and the East isn't looking too good either. Once Washington takes care of Purdue today, he is going to be in even more trouble in the West. He sure is good at talking about the NCAA Tournament though. I am sure he will blame "House" for the picks though, especially that unthinkable Boston College in the Elite 8 pick.

1. Jay Mariotti put up a puff piece on Tyler Hansbrough on Thursday. Here is a sample and this tells you everything you need to know about it.

I don't understand this national mandate that we're supposed to hate Tyler Hansbrough. I happen to admire him -- for making the most of his talent with hard work and 6 a.m. wakeup calls, for passing on the NBA last summer when his stock was at his peak, for staying four years at North Carolina and earning his diploma when most college basketball stars want to shake David Stern's hand during freshman orientation. But for some reason, probably because he wears the Carolina uniform and has a baby face and has been gushed over by Dick Vitale for years, he continues to reign as America's most disliked player. Gets to the free-throw line way too much? Only because his bull-rushes to the basket are unstoppable and require Wrestlemania moves by frustrated foes. Flops too often? What's he supposed to do, defy gravity when they're pulling him to the floor? Wears a pouty look? I'd say it's the look of a kid who has had nothing handed to him and wonders when it will be taken away, perhaps when he sits on an NBA bench or doesn't make it on the next level. The face of Carolina basketball, the blue blood of all programs, religion as sport?

Hansbrough has been a credit to the collegiate experience and has cemented a memorable profile in self-made excellence. If you spend any time around him, you realize he's far more humble and downhome than haughty.

Basically you can just copy and paste these sentences out of the 100 other articles that have been written about Hansbrough in the last month and get what Mariotti is saying. Actually knowing Jay's writing, he very well may have copy and pasted from another article.

Then on Friday Mariotti wrote a semi-indictment piece on Duke and Coach K.

Here is a couple of samples:

While he's at it, would the president like to serve as batboy for a day with his beloved Chicago White Sox? Or would he only tick off Ozzie Guillen and subject himself to a flurry of expletives?

How are Mariotti's readers not tired of his act yet?

Well played, I'd say. Duke has its charms, namely the all-around play of Gerald Henderson, the shooting of Jon Scheyer, the slashing of Kyle Singler and the jets of Nolan Smith. But the president is right in concluding the Blue Devils are soft in the middle, which is why they aren't well-positioned to advance to the Final Four.

Soft in the middle? Again, I have never heard this before. Though this may be true, I always find it funny no one mentions that Duke is also suspectible to a point guard that can drive the lane and dish. Their on the ball defense has suffered a little this year and that and someone should notice Gerald Henderson can only drive to the basketball to the right.

And when you consider his last national championship was in 2001, which came a decade after his other national titles in 1991 and 1992, well, we might be making an argument that Duke no longer is DUKE.

This is clearly a man who doesn't understand college basketball. Bobby Knight had three titles his entire career at Indiana, Dean Smith had only two National Championships at UNC, and Jim Calhoun has only two championships at UConn. Those are some good coaches. It is pretty hard to win three National Championships and Dean Smith's were 11 years apart and Roy Williams won his first one in 2005, 17 years after beginning his coaching career.

Other than John Wooden, who had the advantage of less parity among teams, a shorter NCAA Tournament, recruiting and player violations that were unreported by the media because there was not as much scrutiny, and the fact he had the only dominate college basketball team for a long period of time, you aren't going to find many college basketball coaches who will win more than 3 National Championships in their career. Jay Mariotti is absolutely clueless.

Everyone should be proud of me because I have not taken this obvious bait from Jay Mariotti any more than just mentioning it here. He talked about Duke AND Tyler Hansbrough and I kept it brief...I am amazed.

Seriously, Jay needs to quit talking about things he doesn't know about.

2. Rick Reilly doesn't think Tiger Woods will end up being the best golfer ever.

Tiger Woods is 33 and coming off a rebuild of his left knee -- the fourth operation on it. And yet he still seems to be torquing hard on it, straightening it stiff at impact and pivoting madly around it.

Tiger Woods is 33. Thirty fucking three years old. That's really, really young for what he has accomplished so far in his career. He admitted that he had been playing with the knee hurting for a while now and so he was probably used to swinging a golf club working around the injured knee. It is just going to take him some time to get back.

Clearly Rick Reilly has never played a sport and had an injury that lingered. Once the injury is fixed the human body is so used to the muscle memory of having to work around the injured body part, it takes a little while to train the body to play the sport differently healthy.

So the question after this near nine-month halftime of his fabulous career becomes: Is passing Jack Nicklaus' record 18 majors still the five-star lock we all thought it was? Is the Nicklaus Speedbump growing?

In a word, yes, I am not going to bet against him and no one else should either. Tiger Woods has won 14 major championships so far and I predicting he will play golf for an absolute minimum of 10 more years. If he wins a major every other year, then he will at least tie Jack Nicklaus for the record. I am being very conservative with both measurements here. Tiger will play longer than that and has proven he can win a major more than once every two years. I don't think a rebuilt knee is going to hold him down for too long.

Sure there is a chance Tiger won't beat Nicklaus' record but I think that is a very slim chance. Now I know why Reilly writes the normal articles he does, because when he tries to do something different...it sounds dumb.

If it were anybody but Tiger, wouldn't you say he's going to need it? How's Ernie Els been since his knee surgery? One PGA win, no majors. Stuart Appleby? Zero wins. Brad Faxon? Cold case.

This is a stupid argument. If it was anyone but Tiger Woods in this situation we wouldn't have to talk about the all time record for winning majors being broken at all, but because he is Tiger Woods and has proven he is a special type of golfer, we believe he can do it. The type of golfer who can win 14 majors at the age of 33 is also the type of golfer who can win more than 5 majors after knee surgery.

I can't describe how dumb this comparison really is. Els, Appleby and Faxon are all older than Tiger Woods, they have won less majors than Tiger Woods, and they all had knee surgery at an older age than Tiger Woods. I would assume they are not the best comparisons for the best golfer in the world.

So far, in his two hand-picked comeback tournaments, Woods was a) knocked out early in the Accenture Match Play, and b) no factor at Doral last week -- an event he'd won six times.

But he's Tiger, so you say, "Pah! Rust!"

No, I say "he is learning to swing with a good knee," and that is a true statement.

But what about all these young puppies bouncing around at Tiger's ankles -- Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas and Rory McIlroy? They make Tiger look like the den master waiting for the cub scouts to settle down so he can take roll.

All of these young golfers who haven't won a single major yet. Yeah, let's worry about them before they win a major. Shut up.

Me, I expect Future Tiger to remain the bloodless, unblinking hit man, but with more vacation time between kills. I used to think he could get to an unthinkable 30 majors. Now I think he'll end up at 22 or 23. He'll pass Sam Snead's PGA Tour wins mark of 82, but I don't think he'll get to 100.

So Rick Reilly is playing Devil's Advocate and didn't mean any of what he just wrote? Rick Reilly gets paid millions of dollars to do things like this.

But it's possible that we've seen the best of Tiger Woods. There's even a small chance that he won't pass Nicklaus at all. Which begs the question: Would he still be The Greatest Golfer ever?

Hmmm...I would probably say yes because he had the greatest run of any golfer until he reached the age of 33. If he doesn't pass Nicklaus, it would be because his body broke down and I don't think that reflects on his skill set. I might have him as the best golfer ever if he retired today. I am crazy that way.

I'd say no.

Of course you would. Because 18 majors over a 24 year time span, like Nicklaus did (and I am even cutting it off at his 1986 Master's win to make it seem shorter) is more impressive than winning 14 majors at the age of 32, which is what Tiger did. If Tiger quit today, I would have a little bit of reservation in calling him the best golfer ever, but I think a great case could be made.

3. Wallace Matthews thinks it is a no-brainer that the Jets trade for Jay Cutler, which is probably why he was able to ponder it.

Ba-da-boom! I just called Wallace Matthews dumb.

He's hanging out there like one of Brett Favre's passes during the final month of last season, just begging to be picked off,

He is also most likely whining and complaining. Bring the tissues here STAT, Jay is sad again!

Didn't the Jets already trade for a quarterback who whined and complained when he didn't like his current situation?

You get Cutler, you don't need so much luck.

But you do need plenty of tissue and Vapor rub for his red little nose.

Another wide receiver, for sure, but that's what the draft is for, and besides, there's always some salary-cap casualties to be had during training camp.

It's as easy as that. Just go find a great receiver on the free agent market and in the draft. I bet no other team knows about this, so this gives the Jets a heads up on a great receiver. I am glad Wallace Matthews is here to tell us these secrets.

He's got a cannon for an arm. And he's physically tough

Just don't mention you may trade him or he will collapse in a heap on the ground crying. Then he will demand a trade and completely confuse everyone...because didn't he NOT want to be traded?

Cutler is out there now, waiting for some team to put together the right combination of draft picks to get him out of Denver. The Jets blew draft picks on Bill Parcells and Favre, among others, and blew plenty more on guys who couldn't play quarterback in an Arena League game.

Only draft picks? I am sure a team like the Jets, who play in the same division as the Dolphins and Patriots, have a need to keep as many draft picks as possible. Sure it is true they need a quarterback, but they also need another receiver and a defense.

I don't think the fact the Jets have made stupid mistakes in the past in trading draft picks for players is a reason to go ahead and make that type of move again. Logic would actually dictate they don't do this, but Wallace doesn't let logic dictate his life.

And even though there's a new coach in town, there's still the same old GM making the picks. You can sit back and watch Mike Tannenbaum waste them on another bust who will never amount to anything, or bundle them together for a guy who actually might develop into a Jets quarterback to remember, not try to forget.

Wow, yet another bad reason to trade for Cutler. Wallace thinks the Jets should trade the draft picks because he doesn't think the GM should be trusted to make the picks. If your favorite team is trading draft picks so the GM doesn't have the opportunity to use those picks, it really is time for a new GM.

Sooner or later, even Jets fans run out of patience. The ball is in the air and someone is going to come down with it. For once in our lives, why can't it be the Jets?

Because that is a quick fix that may not even work. It's not like the Jets are a quarterback away from winning the Super Bowl. At this point, it may be smarter to keep the draft picks and hope one of either Clemens, Ainge, or Ratliff can step up and take the starting quarterback spot. Sure its a risk but no less risky than trading draft picks for a quarterback who has no receivers.

I can't expect anything smart though from a team that states on their official web site the unofficial depth chart is updated throughout the season but they still have Brett Favre as the starting quarterback. Ok, now I am being picky...the Jets should not trade for Jay Cutler though.