During the NFL owners meeting, Belichick was upset that some owners did not want to pay for cameras on the sidelines and goal lines that could help when reviewing questionable scoring plays. He was so mad, that according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Patriot head coach used some foul language to make his point. Adam Schefter's account of it: “They were in a meeting the other day with Dean Blandino, the head of the officials, and Bill Belichick got up there, and in profane language, told the NFL: ‘We spend money to send the Pro Bowl to Brazil, we spend money to go overseas to London, but we can’t spend money to have four cameras in the end zone, four cameras to help determine the correct call in the end zone on certain plays?’ He went off, and the way it was explained to me, from people in the room at the time, they were laughing at it because his language was so profane and because he was so incensed about it, and the NFL didn’t know how to handle it. But the bottom line is, they did not introduce the four cameras in the end zone, they thought right now it’s too cost-prohibitive for the NFL even, and they don’t know how to do it. They’ll probably continue to look at this, but Bill Belichick left these owners’ meetings not particularly happy." We may find it silly that Belichick is going off on a rant about cameras. But for as crazy as it may sound, when it comes to cameras and Bill Belichick, I agree with his profanity-filled rant about these sideline/end zone cameras.
The National Football League is a non-profit that generate billions of dollars in revenue each year. The owners are made up of multimillionaires and billionaires who, at times, will cry poor and beg taxpayers in their cities to pay the majority of the cost for a new stadium. They have also kept Roger Goodell in his position as Commissioner despite a terrible year of one case of incompetence after another. It's all a part of a league that has made itself a year-round commodity in America by moving the Combine up to February 17th and moving the NFL Draft back to the last day of April going into May. The regular season and playoffs may expand in the future, too. With all that money the NFL makes, why would a few cameras on the sideline and goal lines to help with video reviews be seen as a financial inconvenience by some of these owners? Belichick's comments about the NFL wanting to move the Pro Bowl to a different country and the increased number of games being played in London just display how hypocritical the league can be. The NFL will make money off of those games in London, and perhaps the inevitable Super Bowl across the pond (let's hope it doesn't happen). If they spend money on cameras and do not break even or make a profit off of it, it is viewed as a waste money in their minds. That request by Bill Belichick is like a citizen going to a city council meeting, proposing that a stop sign be put at a busy three or four-way intersection and the council rejecting it because it's too "cost-prohibitive" for them. If Jeremy Jamm was on that council, it would be tabled for eternity unless Sweetums was funding it. Many think the New England head coach acts too much like a robot. Hardly showing any emotion when we see him on the sideline or at the podium during a press conference. Well, robots cannot show emotion, and Belichick's rant at the owners meeting might prove that he's human after all. More importantly, he's right in this case.
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While most of us have been watching the human party machine Rob Gronkowski chug beers at the Patriots Super Bowl parade and more recently, twerk, his teammate, Tom Brady, was having fun as well. Perhaps too much fun for Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick's liking.
Brady and his family are on vacation in Costa Rica. While most of us will take a nice, relaxing vacation on the beach, the Brady bunch went cliff diving. So did New England's franchise quarterback. This was posted to his Facebook page (which is actually quite interesting)
I'm pretty sure most Patriot fans will hold their breath watching this. Most of us are probably nervous just seeing the point-of-view from the top of the cliff.
If things went horribly, Brady would still be guaranteed $24 million from the Patriots.
Bob Huggins' Mountaineers are one of two Big 12 teams still dancing. West Virginia will try and use the press against Kentucky's offense. Notre Dame and Wichita State are similar. Both are entertaining to watch and both can shoot from beyond the arc. It might determine who gets a shot at Kentucky if the Wildcats advance past West Virginia. One would assume that most of the country would prefer that Wichita State beat Notre Dame and advance and have a shot at Kentucky if the Mountaineers don't slay the beast first. Nobody can deny that most of the nation will root against Notre Dame Thursday night because, well, they are Notre Dame. Most of the crowd in Pittsburgh was cheering for Kellen Dunham to make that game-winning shot with two seconds to go Saturday night. Storylines, which make the tournament even better, have gone from Ron Hunter's Georgia State's emotional postgame following his teams loss in Round 3 to Xavier, to the sad news regarding Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey's mother, who died of a heart attack the morning of his teams third round game against Butler. Most will expect his players to play in their coach's mothers memory for the duration of their tournament run. Who really does have the best chance to take down Kentucky? Any of the three teams playing this weekend in Cleveland? The team that comes out of the West to meet them in the Final Four? The team they might meet in the title game? Would you be willing to cheer for a team like Duke if it meant watching Calipari come up a game short? Decisions, decisions, decisions.  The first day of the second round of the NCAA Tournament saw incredible action in all four regions of the brackets. 14 seeds made headlines as UAB took down 3 seed Iowa State and a little over an hour later, Georgia State took down another Big 12 school with a 3 seed, Baylor and Northeastern put a scare into Notre Dame to begin the Madness in Pittsburgh. Five of the sixteen games on the first day were decided by a point. One that went to overtime and another that was decided by a goaltending call that gave UCLA three points and an eventual 60-59 win over SMU. N.C. State came back from 16 points down to defeat LSU later that night. Day one was pure "madness." The second day of round two was almost entirely chalk. 11 seed Dayton defeated 6 seed Providence in the last game of the night. The second round games provide us with a few exciting upsets like UAB and Georgia State, both which were feel-good stories coming into Saturday. But most of the time, we see a majority of the higher seed taking care of business. With the four 1 seeds, we often wonder which one will fall first. It did happen, and it happened in third round action in Pittsburgh Saturday night. Villanova, the top seed in the East Region, faced 8 seed N.C. State in the first game of the evening. The Wildcats were a horrendous 31 percent from the field, and it was one of the reasons why Villanova fell short to the Wolfpack in what turned out to be an exciting 71-68 finish at Consol Energy Center when an arrant inbound by N.C. State gave Villanova a chance to make a three pointer and take their first lead since they were up 28-25 with 2:12 left in the first half. The final game of the night had 3 seed Notre Dame matched up against 6 seed Butler. A game that was seen as bad matchup for the Fighting Irish. While Notre Dame took a 10-point lead 12 minutes into the game, the Bulldogs closed the gap to two at halftime. Notre Dame miscues and the great play of Butler's Roosevelt Jones and Andrew Chrabascz gave the Bulldogs a lead late in the game. The lead went back and forth and lead to a dramatic ending after Zach Auguste was called for a double dribble and gave Butler a chance for the game-winning shot with the score tied 55-55 with two seconds left. After two Notre Dame timeouts and a Butler timeout, an inbound pass to Kellen Dunham on the far baseline gave him an opportunity to take a three point shot and a chance to send the Bulldogs to Cleveland for the Sweet 16. Notre Dame's Pat Connaughton had other plans. There was still 0.6 seconds left after Connaughton's rejection, but it was not enough time for Butler to get a shot off, so off to overtime they went in Pittsburgh. Connaughton kept the Irish alive with the block, and then made a key three-point shot to give the Irish a 62-59 lead. Steve Vasturia made a big three-point basket and had five points in the overtime period, as Notre Dame escaped 67-64, and advanced into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. Two great games that came down to the wire, and we all learned after the Notre Dame-Butler game that Irish head coach Mike Brey lost his mother to a heart attack earlier in the day. Brey did not tell anyone about it until after the game. This includes his players and staff. This will be a storyline for Notre Dame going into the Sweet 16 in Cleveland Thursday night. With the third round games wrapping up Sunday night, there is no doubt that Pittsburgh featured the most exciting games of the round. It may not be 15 seed Coppin State beating 2 seed South Carolina in the opening round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament at Civic Arena, but it was an evening to remember. 
Now that I've depressed PITT and Duquesne fans, here's some good news. The Pittsburgh region has a local school that is on their way to the NCAA Tournament. To find the team, take a 15 mile trip from downtown Pittsburgh to Moon Township. There you will find the Robert Morris Colonials of the Northeast Conference. What Should I Know About Robert Morris? The Colonials, as stated earlier, play in the Northeast Conference. They finished the season with an overall record of 19-14 and a conference record of 12-6. This past Tuesday, Robert Morris defeated St. Francis of Brooklyn 66-63 for the NEC title and the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. It is their first appearance since 2010. Why does Robert Morris sound Familiar? In 2013, the Colonials made the NIT Tournament and played one seed Kentucky. Yes, that Kentucky who went 31-0 during the regular season this year. Since Lexington was hosting early round games in the NCAA Tournament, the Colonials, the road team in this case, got a "home game" at their home arena, the Sewall Center. Robert Morris defeated Kentucky 59-57. And yes, the road teams fans stormed the court. Who Is Their Coach?  The head coach of the Colonials is Andy Toole. He is 34, but looks young enough to be a player on his team. Toole was hired in 2010 and is in his fifth season with Robert Morris. Since his hiring, Toole has led the Colonials to the NIT Tournament twice, and his team has been in the NEC Championship game four times. Of course, they finally took home the title this past Tuesday. Before leading the Colonials to the NCAA this season, Andy Toole's finest hour came in the 59-57 win over Kentucky in the 2013 NIT Tournament. Any Local Players on the Team? There is one local guy. Elijah Minnie, a freshman forward who is from Monessen, PA, but attended Lincoln Park, a charter school for the performing arts that has built its basketball team into a powerhouse in AA in District 7 (known by local and most of Pennsylvania as the WPIAL). He helped lead the Leopards to a district and state title in his senior year. With the Colonials, Minnie has average 21.5 minutes per game this season, had a great performance in the NEC Championship Game and will be a big part of Robert Morris' future success. And also, everyone loves the local player. Where Will They Land in the Tournament? Well, according to the latest prediction from bracket guru Joe Lunardi, Robert Morris would be a 16th seed that would have to play one of the "First Four" games on Tuesday against projected 16th seed Manhattan. If the Colonials win, they go to the Round of 64, and awaiting them in Charlotte would be one seed Villanova. So, What are Their Chances of Going Deep in the Tournament?
As a projected 16th seed that will most likely play that extra game in Dayton, the Colonials won't be picked to beat whichever one seed they play in the next round. But they call it "March Madness" for a reason, so you never know. There's always one Cinderella team. 
February was the best basketball the PITT Panthers played all season. It's NHL Trade Deadline Day. A day that should be made a national holiday in Canada. The NHL Network in the U.S. is showing the Sportsnet telecast. Coverage on TSN and Sportsnet is devoted to it as the 3pm Eastern deadline approaches. TSN's "Tradcentre" coverage includes tweets from viewers using the hashtag #TradeCentre. This one got past the producers and whoever is monitoring social media for TSN: The original tweet is still on his timeline. Even he can't believe TSN put it on the air. This is just another reminder that every tweet with the hashtag #TradeCentre isn't appropriate for the broadcast.
Jay Onrait left a huge void in the broadcast when he went to Fox Sports 1, but when it comes to a lighter side of "Tradecentre," they didn't have that in mind. 
"March comes in like a lion. March goes out like a lamb." 
There are over 40 shades of orange.
The Cleveland Browns thought a darker shade would be a nice way to update the image of the Cleveland Browns. It is hard to tell if it is a "Deep Carrot" orange or "Flame" orange. We've already obsessed over the color of a dress for the last 48 hours (I saw blue and black), so we'll just say the Browns chose a darker shade of orange. Obviously, the Browns probably paid a firm a lot of money to help update the teams image. A new "Dawg Pound" logo and a darker orange doesn't come off as a "major change" to many. There are still the same Cleveland Browns with the same football helmet logo, and also, the same organization that can't seem to get it together in the front office and on the field. Since their return in 1999, the Browns have had 22 starting quarterbacks, one playoff appearance and only two winning seasons and a combined record of 73-151. They are also the last pro team in Cleveland to win a championship (1964). Snake-bitten is the best term to describe this team. Their leadership has also been a factor in their mediocrity as well. Owner Jimmy Haslam and General Manager Ray Farmer are the two who lead the march off a cliff every season. Haslam, who also owns the truck-stop company, The Flying J, runs that company as well as he runs the Browns. Last summer, Haslam paid a $92 million fine for cheating customers out of promised discounts and rebates. This past season, Ray Farmer was found to be sending text messages down to the sideline during games, which of course is against NFL rules. Staying on Farmer, drafting Johnny Manziel with their second pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft brought a shot of optimism to the city, and with the return of LeBron James that summer, Cleveland was on cloud nine. Well, Manziel became the starter after Brian Hoyer fizzled out toward the end of the season. Johnny Football's time as a starter was just as bad. Add the latest news that Manziel decided to enter treatment in late January, and you're left with a team with more question than answers. The Browns did sign quarterback Josh McCown to a three-year deal and with that addition, Hoyer's time in Cleveland is probably over. So, if McCown is the starting quarterback to begin the 2015 (which he probably will be), he will be the 23rd starting quarterback for the Browns since 1999. Cleveland is not giving up on Manziel just yet, so a possible scenario would have him as a backup to McCown. Whether or not the Browns draft a quarterback in the 2015 NFL Draft could affect this, too. The Cleveland Browns are still a team looking for a franchise quarterback to provide stability at a key position in the NFL and make their club a winning and respectable one with Mike Pettine as the head coach. The team on the field is a reflection of the front office. Haslam and Farmer need to get their act together as well. Perhaps the logo and jerseys are not the most important things that need to be changed. |
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