You won't find many people who dislike Ben Braun, the human being. He is charming, passionate, funny, and an all-around class act. That does not change the fact, however, that his California Golden Bears are all but a lock to miss the NCAA Tournament for the 4th time in 5 years. Braun joined Cal as its head coach in 1996, and in that time, the Bears have reached the Sweet 16 just once -- in Braun's first year, with previous coach Todd Bozeman's players.

After a promising start this season, Cal finished 6-12 in Pac-10 play for the 3rd time in 4 years, placing 9th in the conference. With the high level of talent on the Bears' roster, these types of results are unacceptable. Forward Ryan Anderson and center DeVon Hardin will most likely be first-round NBA Draft picks, and Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, and Jamal Boykin fill out Cal's starting lineup with three more very capable scorers. Although the Pac-10 Conference is extremely deep this season, a 9th-place finish is a major disappointment for a team that had legitimate NCAA Tournament dreams coming into the year.

It will not be easy to cut ties with Ben Braun, as he truly is a great human being and runs his program the right way. However, the numbers do not lie. Cal men's basketball has been mired in mediocrity for the past decade, despite some very good talent (notably Ryan Anderson, DeVon Hardin, Leon Powe, Joe Shipp, Sean Lampley, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim). If Cal is satisfied bobbing around .500 year after year while staying fairly competitive in conference, then Ben Braun is your guy. But if and when the Bears want to take that next step, they will have to do so with a new leader.

When the Cal Bears and Stanford Cardinal face off tonight in San Jose, there will undoubtedly be a lot on the line for both squads. Stanford is looking to win it's 5th Pac-10 Tournament Championship in 6 years. In addition, a win tonight over Cal would give Stanford a season sweep over its hated rival, and it would solidify the Cardinal's case for a number 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

For the Golden Bears, who are looking for their first ever Pac-10 Tournament title, a win would likely lock up a number 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps even more important to Cal is the mental significance of this game -- the Bears lost their two regular season meetings against Stanford, and they are a team in search of a signature win heading into the Big Dance. While Cal certainly has the talent to make a Final Four run, it is an unproven program, and a win against an elite team like Stanford would provide them with a new level of confidence.

Both Cal and Stanford are locks to see their names revealed in the NCAA Tournament bracket a week from now, but for these two bitter rivals, the Big Dance starts tonight.

The San Jose Sharks are in the midst of a franchise record 9-game winning streak, and it is not a coincidence that this stellar play is taking place just after the club acquired defenseman Brian Campbell from Buffalo. Campbell is one of the top two-way defensemen in the entire NHL, and his speed and skill have already made him a fan favorite in the Bay Area. The Sharks are 7-0 since adding Campbell, and the team has played with an energy level that fans have not seen all season long.

In his first 7 games with San Jose, Campbell has recorded a goal and 5 assists, along with a +3 rating, and his tremendous skating ability and vision on the ice have improved the play of everyone around him. While it is uncertain whether the Sharks will be able to re-sign Campbell, who will be a free agent after this season, the trade must already be viewed as a smart one. San Jose sent underachieving forward Steve Bernier along with a first-round draft pick to the Buffalo Sabres, a relatively small price to pay for a legitimate number 1, franchise defenseman.

With the addition of Campbell, as well as the much-improved play of forwards Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau, the Sharks have to be considered one of the favorites to come out of the Western Conference. They are very solid in net with veteran goaltender Evgeni Nabakov and they are led offensively by perhaps the best center in the game, Joe Thornton. The Sharks have all the ingredients to make a Stanley Cup run and they are peaking at the right time.

Last week, as the NHL trade deadline was approaching, I noticed the name Chris Simon headed from New York to Minnesota. My first reaction was "why hasn't this guy been kicked out of the league yet?" Simon is a 36-year-old hockey player, who possibly added something to the NHL a decade ago, but now is just a major blemish on the face of the NHL. In the last year, he has received separate suspensions of 25 and 30 games for on-ice incidents. Simon has always been known as a "goon" within the sport, even before these two most recent suspensions, and now that his actual hockey talent has completely faded away, there is nothing positive that he brings to the NHL.

Hockey fans will be the first to tell you that they hate guys like Chris Simon for what they do to the reputation of the sport. The NHL only tends to get major coverage when there is a brutal on-ice attack or something negative to dwell on, and players like Chris Simon only detract from the league. It is time for Gary Bettman to take a stand and show players that this type of reckless and intentionally dangerous play will not be tolerated. With a player like Chris Simon, who has a track record of causing injuries to others (both intentionally and unintentionally), it is only a matter of time before he strikes again. I can only hope he will retire before that happens.

If I have to hear one more "expert" declare that Roger Federer has lost his spot atop the tennis world, I am going to lose it. Let's put his 2008 season into perspective for a moment. The guy has lost 2 matches. Two. And it's not like he has lost to a couple of nobodies. Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are two of the game's top young talents. Now add the fact that, according to ESPN, Federer was sick with mono during the Aussie Open, and you've got some incredible overreactions from the tennis world.

Maybe people want to believe that Federer's reign is over just because they've grown tired of his dominance. Maybe Roger has set the bar so high for himself that even two losses represent a monumental collapse. Let's just wait until Federer is fully healthy and comfortable again on the court before we suggest the rest of the tennis world has caught up to him.