March Madness Preview: Midwest Bracket

America's Showplace was a venue known for it's ability to entertain. In one last gesture to honor its history, the Sixers and Bulls left fans feeling like they got their money's worth Friday evening. Sure, there was plenty of ugly play and poor officiating (We're looking at you Joey!) but the excitement of a game coming down to the wire spiced up by a few high flying...

Are you unhappy with how Joakim Noah’s NBA career has turned out?  Have you always disliked him even going back to his chest-thumping days at Florida?  Does it annoy you that his hair looks like he hasn’t washed it since 1996?  Well someone really doesn’t like him, and chose a hilarious way to show it.  While [...]

ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews reveals her superstitious ways, including the magic her bed provided the 2007 Florida Gators basketball team. With Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah, the 2007 Florida basketball team may have had more talent, experience and hair than the rest of the field but sometimes its the intangibles like a gorgeous female sitting in an empty bed yelling...

Joakim Noah had a pretty awful start to the Golden State game. He received a pass in the post and then made a rather deliberate move, trying to score with the left. He was absolutely FACED by Andris Biedrins. A few possessions later he telegraphed a pass from the top of the key to Salmons on [...]

Anderson Varejao looks and plays like a bizarro Joakim Noah to me. That being said, you may have noticed (but probably not, because you have been so focused on LeBron James) that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been without Varejao since the beginning of the 2007-08 NBA season. His absence did not hurt the Cavs much last night as they knocked off the NBA's best team, the Boston...

When I try to compare Joakim Noah to current NBA players about the last guy who comes to mind is Mark Madsen. But according to ChicagoSports.com's Sam Smith, a few scouts have drawn that comparison. Quoting an NBA big man's coach he says, "I see him as a mid- to low first-round pick." Most mock drafts have Noah going higher, even though Noah loves to publicly...

A couple of years ago, I saw an NBA Training Camp segment wherein several NBA veteran would punt basketballs into the bleachers section of their practice facility and shout to their rookies, "go get em' rook!" Needless to say, the veterans couldn't stop laughing as the rookies scampered up a flight of stairs to retrieve the leather basketballs. Recently, Chicago...

Everyone can rest easier tonight because Josh McRoberts is leaving Duke. They're really going to miss their underachieving big man over at Duke. Wherever will they find 13 points and 8 rebounds per game? What is this, the year for the "little things" forward in the draft? At best, McRoberts is a poor man's Joakim Noah. Coach K is practically pushing him out the...

Caught the Phoenix Suns game against the Chicago Bulls last night. I read a lot of stuff recently that called for the decline of the Suns due to the changes Terry Porter has made and the change from their old 7 seconds or less offense under Mike D'Antoni. Though the Suns got pasted in this game (due to not having Shaq and Nash resting after playing 4 games in 5 nights), I think the...

Joakim Noah had the game of his young career against the player that once tried to throw him under the bus. Noah finished with 13 points and 20 rebounds against former teammate Ben Wallace. Deng and Gordon also had 20 points+ as the Bulls rolled over the Cavs. LeBron scored 39, but only managed 3 [.....

As a freshman on Florida’s 2007 NCAA championship team, Dan Werner grew accustomed to Joakim Noah’s chest thumping, vocal leadership. When Noah was excited everybody got excited and that meant everyone from teammates to Gator basketball fans. Noah was high energy and everybody fed off him.

Predicted to be the #9 pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls jumped during the lottery to the top spot. The Chicago Bulls, who had a 1.7% chance of getting that top spot, pushed the Miami Heat (who had a 25% chance) to the second spot and T-Wolves to number 3. The 2008 NBA Draft will be like last year's draft where there are two prizes rather than just...

Jonathan Blue is Chairman and Managing Director of a little company called, Blue Equity, LLC. It's some small private equity firm in Louisville, Kentucky that basically dominates every industry from real estate to financial planning, and more recently, sports & entertainment. I hope you noted my earlier sarcasm by now. Blue is a true business man and has had a hands-on...

Luca Sbisa and Marreese Speights probably don't know who each other are, but now they do have something in common. They were both drafted by professional Philadelphia based sports teams. Sbisa by the Flyers 19th overall in the NHL Entry Draft and Speights by the Sixers 16th overall in the NBA Draft. Neither are expected to contribute much early, Sbisa will be lucky to wear Orange...

In Jason Belzer's recent Sports Agency Rankings, he put Blue Entertainment Sports Television (BEST) at number three, behind WMG and CAA. Many people have never even heard of BEST before, so how could it be ranked higher than a juggernaut known as IMG (International Management Group)? IMG is much older than BEST, but in a very short amount of time, Jonathan Blue, Chairman of Blue...