Four for Indiana?

Championship Week is officially upon us, and several Indiana teams will have a chance to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

In the past few days, Indiana State (MVC), Evansville (MVC), Ball State (MAC), and IPFW (Summit) have all been eliminated, but the Hoosier state still has a legit chance at as many as four bids.

IUPUI will play in the Summit League final tonight against top-seeded Oakland, a team they split with this season. The Jaguars are looking for their first Tourney trip since being dropped by #1 seed Kentucky in 2003. They did have some success against Oakland this season, losing by just three on the road, and handing the Grizzlies their lone conference loss of the season by 24 in Indy.

Butler is already in, but could do themselves a big favor seeding-wise by holding serve tonight against Wright State in the Horizon League Championship game. The Dogs are currently the owners of the nation's longest winning streak at 19 games, and could nab as high as a #4 seed should they take care of business tonight.

The other teams that are looking strong are Purdue (a lock at 25-4), and Notre Dame, who finished with four straight wins to push their Big East record to 10-8. However, for the Irish to truly feel safe, they may want to knock-off the winner of Seton Hall/Providence in the Big East Quarters on Wednesday.

Gary Goes Nowhere

In a move that surprised no one, Gary Brackett will remain an Indianapolis Colt. Despite passing this morning’s 12:01 deadline, the unrestricted free agent agreed to a five-year deal. The contract will pay Brackett $33 million, including a signing bonus of $12 million. The deal makes Brackett one of the highest paid players at his position in the NFL.

The signing bucks a long-time trend by the Colts’ front office to let talented linebackers walk. In the past, players such as Cato June, Mike Peterson, and David Thornton have all been allowed to pursue free agency. However, while talented, those players never held the distinction of being defensive captain – a title that Brackett has held since the 2007 season.

Staying up-to-date with the latest, the Colts now have just one unrestricted free agent in K Matt Stover, who is expected to retire. Of their restricted free agents, safeties Melvin Bullitt and Antonie Bethea, along with LT Charlie Johnson, DT Antonio “Mookie” Johnson, and DT Daniel Muir have all been tendered. CB Marlin Jackson, PR T.J. Rushing, and the remaining restricted free agents were not given offers by the Colts and will become unrestricted free agents.

UPDATE: The Colts cut DT Raheem Brock and QB Jim Sorgi late Friday. Sorgi isn't as much of a suprise, but considering that Brock was only owed $3.8M for the final year of his deal, the news is a bit curious (especially in an uncapped year). Maybe Indy is freeing up as much money as they can for Peyton's lucrative extension?

No Ride for Rahal

It was something that I had barely even noticed, but as Curt Cavin's piece in the IndyStar pointed out, rising star Graham Rahal doesn't have a ride for the 2010 IndyCar season.

For a driver of his talent level (7th in points last season) and heritage (father Bobby won the 1986 Indy 500), such a fact is inexplicable. Failing a proper explanation, it can only come down to one factor: money.

Rahal's McDonald's sponsorship from last season was dropped, and he has no ticket for 2010. Other less-talented drivers that are already attached to sponsors have secured rides. Hell, they'd probably put just about anybody in an IndyCar as long as the price was right.

The shutout of Rahal goes against the founding principle of the IndyCar Series, which was to provide ample opportunities to American drivers in open-wheel racing. As it sits right now, only four Americans are slated to participate in the 2010 season, and three reside on the Andretti Autosport team (Andretti, Patrick, Hunter-Reay). After boasting six American champions in their first seven years of existence, only one American (Sam Hornish, Jr.) has won a points title in the last seven.

IndyCar has bigger problems that just the lack of Americans in the series, but it is a problem that needs solving. Casual fans are attracted to names like Andretti and Rahal, but not Mutoh and Viso.

The Day After

I promised myself that I would wait almost a full 24 hours following the biggest event in the history of the planet Tiger Woods' press conference to fully digest everything and give my reaction.

Everyone is going to have a different interpretation, but for me Tiger's mea culpa was a mixed-bag.

First off, Tiger has to be commended for having the courage to speak publicly and apologize for his transgressions. That's something that plenty of other athletes in the same situation haven't done. It's always better to say something than to say nothing at all.

Something else that I liked about yesterday's presser was that Tiger didn't try to gloss over what he did. He used the words "cheat" and "affair" rather than paint a broadstroke over his infidelities. Of course we all know what he did, but the use of those words made the apology seem more sincere. So many times when athletes/celebrities make these kinds of statements, they're very vague. A great example is performance-enhancing drug users in MLB not using the words "steroids", "PEDs", or "cheat" (i.e. Jason Giambi).

But, Tiger's apology wasn't a home run. The popular notion of the media/fans that Woods doesn't owe anything to anybody other than his family is laughable. The big group of people that were really tarnished by this were the members of the PGA Tour. When the you-know-what hit the fan after the Thanksgiving incident three months ago, Tiger left the burden of his transgressions on his colleagues.

Guys like Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, and Phil Mickelson were badgered for months about their thoughts on Tiger, and I'm sure that their personal lives were put under a bigger microscope. It's a lot like when the CEO of the company does something wrong - that image (fairly or unfairly) blankets every employee in the company. Tiger is the face of the PGA Tour. His infidelities cast a poor light on the Tour and the players in it. Anyone that says anything to the contrary is wrong.

So, where was the apology to his fellow golfers? In 13 1/2 minutes, he barely acknowledged the Tour at all.

Another portion of yesterday's statement where Tiger dropped the ball was when he lied about what happened on Thanksgiving night. To be fair, none of us are entitled to know all of the details of what happened that night. That being said, we are entitled not to be lied to.

The fact is, all of us have gotten into spats with spouses or significant others. Obviously, I'm not talking about physical violence, but I'm sure we've all shouted at each other, and said things we've regretted. It's human. Instead of copping to it, Tiger decided to go all Rafael Palmeiro on us, wagging his finger at the camera and guaranteeing that there was no altercation between he and Elin that night.

Bull.

I'm not the sharpest needle in the stack but when I hear that someone crashed an SUV while backing out of their driveway, was barefoot with visible scratches on their face, and (the cherry on top) was seen lying in the middle of the road wrapped in a blanket afterwards, that doesn't sound like a run-of-the-mill Thanksgiving evening.

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Obviously, there was some sort of alertcation between Tiger and his wife that night. All he had to do was admit to that, without divulging any private details. Instead, Woods tried to sell that as a "media misunderstanding", and hoped that we would buy it. I didn't, because I'm not a fool.

Overall, I thought Tiger's statement yesterday was satisfactory. He was basically in a lose-lose situation. No matter what he said, there were going to be some people out that weren't satisfied. He apologized to his family, praised his wife, and didn't skirt the issues. Sure, there were no gorey details, but what did you expect? I mean, the guy's boat is named Privacy.

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Tiger Woods will never return to the peak that he was prior to this controversy, but this country loves redemption stories. It will be an uphill climb, but he'll eventually be back.

Tiger will win again. He'll win majors again. He'll probably pass Jack Nicklaus and go down as the greatest golfer of all time. But, his off-the-course life will always tarnish his legacy.

Yesterday was a step in the right direction because American sports fans love to forgive.

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However, they rarely forget.

Purdue a #1? No Joke.

Chances are if you've watched college hoops this year or read any analysis, you've heard reasons why Purdue isn't a legit National Title contender. I have analyzed some of the reasons why Purdue can/can't win a National Championship this April:

Why Purdue Can't Do It...
1) They don't have THE guy.
Experts maintain that without a surefire NBA Lottery Pick, the Boilers can't possibly win a National Championship. Over the last decade, all but one title winner (2006 Florida) had a player taken in the Lottery of that June's draft - and that Gators team ended up with three players taken in the top nine of the 2008 Draft (Horford, Brewers, Noah).

2) Where's the beef?
Outside of their talented top three (Moore, Hummel, Johnson), the Boilers don't have much of a scoring punch. Entering Wednesday night's win over Ohio State, that trio had scored 65% of Purdue's points this season. Purdue can go 9/10 deep, but they don't have any scorers off their bench.

Why Purdue Can Do It...
1) Sum of the Parts
First off, the assertion that Purdue doesn't have a go-to guy is absurd. E'Twaun Moore is a 17 ppg scorer that shoots 49% from the floor this season. Even if they don't have a guy that NBA scouts are drooling over, they do have three that will get All-Big Ten First Team consideration. At this point, JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore are locks for the first team, and Robbie Hummel is right on the cusp.

2) Body of Work
Take a look at Purdue's top wins this year (RPI ranks): West Virginia (5), Wake Forest (12), Wisconsin (15), Tennessee-N (19), @Michigan State (26), and @Ohio State (31). You can definitely stack those up favorably against any wins from any of the top teams:

#1 Kansas: @Kansas State (7), @Temple (11), Baylor (13), @Texas A&M (18)
#2 Kentucky: Vanderbilt (17), Tennessee (19), Louisville (30), UConn-N (50)
#3 Villanova: @West Virginia (5), Georgetown (8), @Louisville (30), Dayton-N (35)
#5 Syracuse: @West Virginia (5), Georgetown (8), California-N (23), UConn (50)

Outside of Kansas, there isn't a team right now in America that has a better overall resume than the Boilers. Purdue could be in line for a #1 seed, and any team that earns that distinction is absolutely a National Title contender.

Remember When...

There have been many instances where things that were once great, are no longer that way. Sometimes, not only are these things no longer as great as they were, they now completely suck. A couple of notable examples are Green Day, The Simpsons, and birthdays.

Add the NBA Slam Dunk Contest to that list.

Remember when these guys made good music?

Saturday's snooze-fest was beyond a debacle. At least eight of the twelve total dunks attempted could've been executed by 95% of the players in the league (if you don't count the entire Pacers' roster - sorry Dunleavy, Murphy, and Diener...). The best dunk of the night, was DeMar DeRozan's off the side of the backboard windmill, which was the only thing close to a worthy attempt. At least the eventual champion Nate Robinson tried, that's more than I can say for either a disinterested Gerald Wallace or an extremely uncreative Shannon Brown.

Bill Simmons declared the Dunk Contest dead, and while I'm not willing to go that far, I'll admit that it's on life support. What the contest needs is star-power like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Instead, those two are too preoccupied with showing off their new wardrobe and rubbing elbows with fellow celebs.

Unless the stars step-in, there is no saving what used to be one of the highlights of the NBA season.

The Blame Game

Ugh. Here we go again...

Colts President Bill Polian pointed the finger at two units - the offensive line and Special Teams - and bemoaned the lack of execution in Indianapolis' Super Bowl XLIV loss to New Orleans.

Polian mentioned the onside kick to start the second-half as the turning point of the game:

"We had four things we could have done positively on that play. We didn't do any of them. That absolutely changed the game. It went from our getting the ball on their 40-yard line to having them march down for a touchdown."

The blame going on the offensive line is a bit of a surprise. The Colts rushed for 99 yards, well above their 80.9 ypg regular season average, and yielded zero sacks. Peyton Manning was rarely hurried or hit like he was in the Jets and Ravens games earlier in the playoffs.

Frankly, I'm tired of the blame game. Offense, defense, Special Teams, coaching - the Colts were outplayed and outexecuted in every single one of those areas. There's no reason to throw a specific unit or player under the bus.

If Polian really wants to point the finger at someone, why not his own head coach? Jim Caldwell's conservative approach after jumping out to a 10-0 lead was as much to blame as anything for the disappointing loss.