Sports potpourri

Well, the NCAA tournament is like the NBA. The favorites win. Four number one seeds is boring for me. I think North Carolina will win, UCLA doesn't score enough.

Saw the Chicago Blackhawks keep their faint playoff hopes alive with a 5-4 Shootout win over the Hockey team from Columbus, Ohio. Hawks are 3-4 points out of a playoff spot.

Baseball is opening this week, thank G-d. Good win for the Washington Nationals over the Braves. Ryan Zimmerman is their Derek Jeter. He hit a walk-off homer to win the game. Oh, Bush threw out the first pitch and joined Miller and Morgan in the ESPN booth.

calling all sports fans and Patriots

This is really cool. ESPN before an NIT game (not North Carolina-Duke or Yankees-Red Sox) aired the entire national anthem. Kudos to Sean McDonough for going to the National Anthem and not trying to fill the air with twaddle.

http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/search/label/ESPN%20Actually%20Does%20Something%20Right

Let me thank the blog, Awful Announcing for use of this video.

http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com

Washington State

Let me explain why I don't like Washington State.

I grew up in Seattle. Very few people that I knew would have considered attending that school because a) it's far away from Seattle and b) it isn't such a great academic school.

In my humble opinion, people who attend Washington State from the Seattle area go there because they can get in there and don't want to go out of state.

For example, I knew people who attended the University of Washington, Bellevue Community College, University of California-Berkeley, Columbia, Brandeis U (Waltham, MA) just to name a few of the schools.

Jewish people, whether really Orthodox or just three day a year types don't want to go to a school which is 85% white (or thereabouts).

Yes the University of Washington isn't perfect, both academically, religiously and athletically. However, it's going to take more than two wins over Winthrop and Notre Dame to get me to join the Crimson and Gray bandwagon.

If Sedihawk and Brinkhater and the rest of the folks at WSUFOOTBALL.BLOGSPOT.COM want to argue these points, I would be happy to engage them in a discussion.

Perhaps they don't have Jewish friends and all of their fellow Cougar fans celebrate Easter and not Passover.

I mentioned this before, but I am expanding on a previous point. Moreover, I would be willing to bet that Christine Gregoire, the incompetent governor of Washington State has a lot of folks in her administration from WSU.



Here's the link to Cougar faithful

http://wsufootball.blogspot.com/

Another great coach

Another great coach who gets very little respect outside of the Great Lakes area is Tom Izzo of Michigan State. His team beat Pittsburgh yesterday in Denver 65-54 to advance to the Sweet 16. I was very high on Pittsburgh to advance to the Final 4 figuring that they were due, but Michigan State out-toughed them.

You always hear Dick Vitale, Doug Gottlieb and Seth Davis talking up Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Jim Calhoun. Rarely do I hear how good Izzo is.

I think that he is a no-frills guy, he's not a self-promote like the egotistical John Calipari of Memphis.

I fully expect Michigan State to beat Memphis next round and possibly advance to San Antonio.

NCAA

Good job by San Diego, at least one of the WCC teams won a game. St. Mary's didn't show up and Gonzaga lost a close one to Davidson.

WSU beat Notre Dame by 20. I openly was rooting for Notre Dame as I dislike WSU. I think that Washington State is a hayseed school with people from Yakima, Spokane, etc. I grew up in the Seattle area, which is five times bigger.

Maybe this will convince the AD to can Romar and bring in someone who can match wits with Bennett.

Here's a pic from yesterday's win.

Let's see the Cougs get to San Antonio and then a lot of people will leave the Purple & Gold bandwagon.

Purim

Purim was okay, I heard the Megillah on Thursday night at Mikor Chayim, it was a little long but still pretty good. In any event, I do NOT suggest working on Purim if possible. Purim is not quite Shavuot, but there are so many things to do that working even 4-5 hours is difficult.
Also, the snow and waiting over 30 minutes for a bus, didn't help.


Shabbos was good as I spent it nearby the hood. Didn't want to walk up to Touhy or Howard.

A question for people, why do the Ashkenazic single women have a hangup with speaking to guys? The only ones that do go to Sephardic Congregation. I can conclude that the Ashkenazic single women are unfriendly or cowards or have some other hang-up with single men.

quick thought on Gonzaga-Davidson

Here's my thought. Both are good teams, experienced teams who play in lesser-known conferences and have strong non-conference schedules. No surprises, whoever plays better will win. Home court is a little advantage for Davidson, but GU won in Philly against St. Joe's and in Boston against UConn.

Jewish thoughts

Let's take a break from the NCAA tournament, bubbles, brackets and Cinderellas and focus on something else.

A great rabbi in NYC was sent to the hospital recently. He is the Rosh HaYeshiva (Dean) of Yeshivat Chofetz Chaim in New York. Hopefully he will have a Refuah Shelema.

Also, there was a Rabbi in Israel who was stabbed recently. We all heard about the shooting at Mercaz Harav. But there are a lot of attempted killings, homicide attacks that don't make as much news.

One thought, why is it that a number of people are reluctant if they are single to have a meal in mixed company (i.e. single men and women together). Especially if they are over say 25 years old. I really don't grasp this concept of isolating oneself from the opposite sex. Shadchanim can only do so much. I know that the Yeshivish world does this, but I think that this disease, which I formerly called galophobia or something similar, is plaguing the Modern Orthodox world as well.

A very interesting shiur that I heard recently focused on the crisis of Modern Orthodox education. It was a shiur on www.mesora.org given by Rabbi Moshe Ben-Haim and Rabbi Pinchas Rosenthal, formerly of TALI (Torah Academy of Long Island) and now of the Manhattan Jewish Experience. One of the points made was that the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva day school curriculum is a carbon copy of Europe. A lot of memorization and Gemara, with some Halacha and not enough emphasis on why we are Jewish and what we reject theologically about other religions. In America today, you can't just assume that people will be Jewish and embrace it. The world is too open and diverse for that. Perhaps I can add to this another time.


Happy Purim and Go ZAGS!!!!!!!!!! Also go WINTHROP as I DESPISE WSU!!!

2008 PC Picks for NCAA Tournament

This is for all of my conservative friends, like Raphael, Bill Cunningham in Cincy, Mark Levin in DC. I combine the NCAA tournament with current political analysis.

Let's tackle the Charlotte Region first, North Carolina against Mt. St. Mary's or Coppin State. Coppin State would be preferable because they're from the MEAC which is a historically black college.

Indiana versus Arkansas. Hoosiers versus Razorbacks. Razorbacks are hogs which are nice animals. Arkansas.

Notre Dame versus George Mason. Fighting Irish versus Patriots. Notre Dame. George Mason is named for a dead white male (DWEM). Moreover, Patriots is a negative connotation for liberals because of the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretapping as well as the spying that the New England Patriots did in the NFL.

Washington State versus Winthrop. Cougars versus Eagles. I think the Cougars are an endangered species. Eagles are the American national bird. That's too provincial. We need to be global citizens. WSU.

Oklahoma vs. St. Joe's. Sooners versus Hawks. Hawks. Oklahoma is where a lot of oil companies are and it's a RED STATE (meaning one that voted for Bush).

Louisville vs. Boise State. Cardinals versus Broncos. Cardinals because Cardinals are nice peaceful birds and the Broncos are part of the Wild Western culture which is insensitive to nature.

Butler versus South Alabama. Bulldogs versus Jaguars. Bulldogs are similar to the dogs that Michael Vick tortured so let's take Butler.

Tennessee vs. American. Tennessee. How can we good PC people choose American U.? Let the Rush Limbaugh's root for them.

Detroit Region

Kansas v. Portland State. Jayhawks vs. Vikings. Vikings were DWEMs who raped children and women and ruined the environment. Kansas in a walk.

UNLV v. Kent State. Runnin' Rebels v. Golden Flashes. Kent State was the site of a famous antiwar protest during the Vietnam era, so Kent State is our pick.

Clemson v. Villanova. Tigers v. Wildcats. Villanova is our pick because Clemson is in South Carolina which is a red state and they put up the Confederate flag on the Capitol.

Vanderbilt v. Siena. Commodores v. Saints. Both nicknames are politically incorrect, Commodore is a rank in the military and Saints are religious figures, and as the Left reminds us, we have separation of Church and State in America. However, Vanderbilt is in Tennessee and Siena is in Albany, New York and add the fact that Albany is suffering because of the Spitzer scandal, so we pick Siena.

USC v. Kansas State. Trojans v. Wildcats. Kansas State because USC are Trojans who are Dead White Males.

Wisconsin v. Cal-State Fullerton. Badgers v. Titans. Titans are big and mean and Badgers are harmless animals. Wisconsin.

Gonzaga v. Davidson. Zags or Bulldogs v. Wildcats. Pretty even, but former White House press secretary Tony Snow went to Davidson. Gonzaga by a nose.

Georgetown v. UMBC. Hoyas v. Retrievers. UMBC has never been to the tournament, so like all good liberals, we'll pick the Retrievers.

Houston Region

Memphis v. UT Arlington. Tigers v. Mavericks. Mavericks are dissenters, so we'll take them.
Texas v. Austin Peay. Longhorns v. Governors. Texas is home of Bush, Rove and Halliburton, so we'll take Austin Peay. Besides governors, especially those in New York and New Jersey need a break.

Stanford v. Cornell. Cardinal v. Big Red. Cornell is in the Ivy League, so that's the pick.

Pittsburgh v. Oral Roberts. Panthers v. Golden Eagles. Pitt is the choice for three reasons
1) Oral Roberts are the Eagles, and we need to be global citizens and not so jingoistic.
2) Oral Roberts was a fundamentalist preacher who wasn't as likable as Mike Huckabee
3) Da Coach (Ditka) went to Pitt.

Michigan State v. Temple. Spartans v. Owls. Temple because the Spartans are DWEM's.

Marquette v. Kentucky. Golden Eagles v. Wildcats. Eagles again, so Kentucky is the choice, However, Marquette is in Milwaukee a blue city in a blue state so that's the choice.

Miami v. St. Mary's. Hurricanes v. Gaels. St. Mary's because hurricanes are bad and Miami is in Florida and we all know how Florida impacted the national election the last 10 years or so.

Mississippi State v. Oregon. Bulldogs v. Ducks. Oregon is the choice. Ducks are nice and Mississippi is the home of Trent Lott, who said mean and bigoted things a few years back.

Phoenix Regional

UCLA v. Miss. Valley State. Bruins v. Delta Devils. Miss. Valley State because a) they're a Historically Black college and b) we don't want to offend devil worshippers.

Duke v. Belmont. Blue Devils v. Bruins. Duke are Devils but they're the home of the accused lacrosse guys who were mean to that girl a couple of years ago, so Belmont is the winner.

Xavier v. Georgia. Musketeers v. Bulldogs. Georgia because Musketeers are DWEM's and Xavier is in Cincinnati, home of Bill Cunningham who was mean to Barack Obama. Moreover, they're soldiers which reminds us of the war in Iraq so Georgia is the choice.

Connecticut v. San Diego. Huskies v. Toreros. Toreros are bullfighters, so they harm animals, pick UConn.

Drake v. Western Kentucky. Bulldogs v. Hilltoppers. Hilltoppers are probably small minded folks who listen to Rush Limbaugh, so Drake is the choice.

Purdue v. Baylor. Boilermakers v. Bears. You'd think Baylor, because they're Bears. However, Baylor is in Texas, home of Big Oil and the GOP, so Purdue is the winner.

West Virginia v. Arizona. Mountaineers v. Wildcats. Arizona because Mountaineers messed up the environment and John McCain is from Arizona and he's a Responsible Republican unlike Fred Thompson and other right-wingers like Jeff Sessions.

BYU v. Texas A&M. Cougars v. Aggies. BYU is a Mormon school and the Left doesn't like Mormonism, as evidenced by their treatment of Romney in the Campaign, so A&M. However, A&M won't go far b/c they're from Texas.

Enjoy.

college hoops

Well, since this is my first post since the field of 65 was announced, I have a few thoughts.

First of all, only two or four teams have gripes, Florida and Ohio State, as the finalists from last year should have gotten more consideration. To see someone repeat or have the chance to adds to the intrigue of the tournament.
The other two teams that could or should have gotten in are Arizona State and Illinois State. Arizona State swept Arizona. Arizona has 14 losses, case closed, I don't care how tough their schedule was, that's too bad. Kentucky and Arizona got in on reputation.

Kentucky and their fans are a bunch of spoiled Southerners who don't belong in this tournament.

Good job by the Illini in reaching the Big 10 title game. I know they lost, but they did better than expected.

Memo to Northwestern and DePaul, your teams stink and your coaches are MAJOR LEAGUE LOSERS. Fire them NOW!!!

Washington reached the CBI (College Basketball Invitational), a smaller tournament which allows them to say that they made post-season play. Next year is an ENORMOUS year for Romar and the Huskies. I don't want to be worse than those hayseeds in Pullman.

stuff

Great wedding last Monday in Seattle. It was a nice wedding with two great people and their families. I wish the chasan and kallah much success in their marriage together. Eventually I will have pictures.

Today, I hope to get a new tv in time for my favorite spring sports event, the Men's NCAA basketball tournament. Locally, unless Illinois State makes it, we Land of Obama folks have no one. However, if you're Catholic or listen to WLS, Notre Dame will be in the tournament.

Great coaching job by Bruce Weber for getting his team into the Big 10 final today against Wisconsin. Jeff Dickerson and Harry Teinewitz must be proud.

Memo to Jerry Angelo, trade for Donovan McNabb. He is the answer to your QB problems.

two coaches who need to be replaced

There are two coaches of teams that I care about in college basketball who need to be replaced because their teams had lousy years. First is Washington, who went 16-16 and lost in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament. They have lost 7 in a row to Washington State, a team that they should beat like a drum simply because they're in a bigger city and have access to better recruits. My suggestion is that Washington should go get Dave Rose, the coach of BYU, whose team WILL make the tournament. I feel that Washington should have won a minimum of 19 games, maybe even twenty or twenty one. Romar is an ordinary coach and the AD needs to recognize that both the football and basketball team need to improve or Washington will be the Northwestern of the Pac-10.

Next is DePaul. They didn't even make the Big East tournament, because they lost a game they needed to win at Pittsburgh, 98-79 on Sunday. Jerry Wainwright's 3 year record at DePaul is 43-48, and has missed the Big East tournament two of three years.

If DePaul wants to be taken seriously, then they need to get a coach that can handle the pressure of a big time conference.

response to if we should be Sameach in Adar

If you read my blog recently, you know about the massacre in Jerusalem where a Palestinian gunman killed 8 yeshiva students and wounded 9 others. Someone posted a question of if we should be happy and rejoice on Purim, which is less than two weeks away.

Here is my response.

Efrem,
You are right in the sense that we need to daven and learn and get closer to Hashem, especially in troubling and catastrophic times. However, we should still celebrate Purim, maybe just a bit more muted.Perhaps one less shot of schnapps than normal.Our holidays are different from the Non-Jews in that we try to include all people. On Purim, we have Matanot L'Evyonim. On the Shalosh Regalim, we are commanded to invite the less fortunate to our homes.Perhaps the events of the last couple of weeks are a reminder to us that reaching out to our fellow Jews is what is needed.
Just my thoughts,
JMN

This season for the Dawgs

Despite the fact that Spencer Hawes went to the NBA, instead of staying in Seattle for another year to get stronger and better, I thought that Washington would have a good year and possibly get back to the tournament. Not only won't they make the NCAA tournament, they won't even make the NIT. Yesterday was the nadir, losing in Pullman in double overtime to those hayseed Cougars. How can a team from a large city like Seattle be 16-15 while those hayseeds in Pullman be 23-7? This is unbelievable to me. Lorenzo, you better have a really good year next year or UW will be looking for a new coach. I am sick of big city schools flopping. DePaul stinks, Washington stinks, the Illini stink.

Thank the lord for Gonzaga. They're a good solid team. Unfortunately, Spokane is a five-hour drive from Seattle.

BTW, to the UCLA fans, I can't stand your team, do they have some favors with Hansen and the other Pac-10 suits. How else do you explain their controversial wins over Stanford and Cal?

attack in Israel

There was a terrorist attack in Israel today as a gunman went into a Yeshiva in Jerusalem and killed eight and wounded others. Another sad episode in Israel.

Hopefully as Adar II (or Sheni) starts, it will be much better than this.

Sad to see him go

I must say that Tuesday was a sad day for the NFL. Brett Favre retired after 17 years in the NFL. He is one of the 10 greatest quarterbacks in the last 25 years.

Go to www.packers.com for more on this.

NCAA example

Here's an example from last year. Let's take Texas and USC, a second round match-up. USC is the Trojans, who are named for the Greek warriors of Troy. The Greeks are Dead White European Males or DWEMS. You might think, perfect, pick Texas. Not so fast. Remember, USC is playing Texas, home of Bush and Big Oil, including Halliburton, and Jenna Bush went there, so we pick USC. If USC was playing Wisconsin, then we'd pick against USC because of the offensiveness of their nickname.

potpourri

Well, it's the first post of March.

First of all, it is time that the citizens of Chicago and Cook County RECALL Todd Stroger. This man is a liar when he said that he wouldn't raise taxes and moreover, he is going to drive middle-class people out of Chicago. I would like for those residents of West Rogers Park and elsewhere to give me one good reason to NOT RECALL this man. By November, the sales tax in Cook County will be over 10%. Way to go, Cook County. By the way, where is Andrew McKenna, the Illinois State GOP Chairman? Does he have anyone worth challenging Stroger or is he too focused on Oberweis retaining Denny Hastert's seat?

Secondly, Barack Obama or John McCain is pretty thin-skinned if calling someone by their full name is offensive. Imagine if these folks were around when Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson ran for President.

Three: I like Rosenblum's and hope it stays on Devon, as opposed to moving to Touhy or near there. I lost a couple of kippot recently, so I went there the last Sunday in February to get some kippot and it was good. Rosenblum's is a different type of a store than Kesher Stam.

Lastly, for the folks who disagree with me on the death penalty, I am curious to know what your alternatives are, especially with respect to sentencing. Even if I agree with your premise that state-sanctioned killing is wrong, the crime in Connecticut deserves a swift punishment. What would that be?

Thanks to all and have a good day.