Sunday Smorgasbord 3-16

• This week we kick things off with the Worldwide Leader in Schlock aiding and abetting an outlaw NCAA program in the commission of recruiting violations. Now how this is classified as "secondary" when school officials knowingly arranged for an extra benefit for a recruit is beyond me as is how the Worldwide Leader Schlock didn't know that they were assisting a school committing a violation. Of course, the Worldwide Leader in Schlock coverage of NCAA violations tend to pale in comparison to the criminal proceedings of various professional athletes. Maybe we've just found out the reason why. It's well known that the Men's Basketball Coach, Jim Calhoun, is a crook and now the scandals surrounding Geno Auriemma are starting to surface. Finally it says a lot that Pat Summit's fingerprints have been exposed in this matter. It is a common tactic for her to complain about recruiting violations when she ends up losing players to other schools. She pulled the same stunt on Brenda Frese two years ago now to no avail. For this to break through on Auriemma and Summit to be fingered as the one calling him out makes you wonder just how ugly this whole episode really is.
• In case you hadn't heard, this week was the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Soccer Qualifying Tournament, and the big news is the all too predictable Cuban defections that occurred. I guess life isn't too happy in the Post-Castro Cabal. What could they possibly be running from with their great education and health care systems that many of our friends on the Left greatly admire and aspire for the rest of us? Remember folks, athletes typically get treated better than everybody else in these Communist Countries so why did they run? Better yet, why did they wait until after playing the U.S. before running? Luckily for the U.S., they still won the group and now move on to face Haiti in the semifinals where a win will give them a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games.
• As expected, the Maryland Men went out in the first round of the ACC Tournament to lockup their third NIT appearance in the last four years. Adding further insult to injury, Maryland is a 5 seed in the Not Important Tournament and travels to Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Gary Williams watch is in Day 3 right now as various Maryland Boosters seek to continue to revise history. My personal favorite is the claim that the team/program has "failed to meet expectation for the past five seasons." This includes the 2003 team that was a shot away from returning to the Elite 8 and the 2004 team that won the ACC Tournament. First I'm curious as to what the expectations of the program are. It isn't as if the Cable Box had to be designed with extra rafters to hold all the NCAA and ACC Championship Banners brought over there in the first place. Gary has the exact same amount of ACC Tournament Titles as Lefty Driesell and one more National Title. You'd think instead of wins and losses and outrageous expectations that people would be pointing to the fact that Gary isn't making the NCAA Tournament and isn't graduating many of his players either. But never the less the odds are very good that Debbie Yow will bow to the pressure and Gary will be dismissed by the end of the month.
• I see things really have changed in Ashburn, Virginia. How long as the NFL's Free Agent period been open and this past week we finally saw the first visitor to Redskins Park and he escaped without signing a contract? What is going on here?
• The Nats are asking their fans to choose the music at their new stadium. I'm surprised that they found a way to include the Air Force Theme song but can't find a place for the rest of the Armed Services? Also in what should be a surprise to no one, President Bush will throw out the first pitch in the new stadium in two weeks. The stadium is scheduled to open at 3:30 pm for an 8 pm game which is roughly what they did three years ago when the Nats placed their first game in RFK and President Bush threw out the first pitch there. Finally, the Nats are holding a lottery to determine who will get a chance to buy the 500 recently released tickets for opening night. The tickets were held back for potential season ticket buyers.
• And in this week's "Diversify or Die" segment, we lament the final act of the great person that was Keith Olbermann. We've know for quite awhile that the former SportsCenter Anchor had gone off the deep end but this week's ten minute diatribe puts any potential "rehabilitation" beyond reach. What's makes this comical beyond all belief is the seriousness of Olbermann's rant. When he and Dan Patrick hosted SportsCenter on ESPN back in the glory days of the network, his sarcasm and sense of humor made the show work and it is because every other anchor at ESPN tries so hard to match what he did that ESPN has degenerated into the World Wide Leader Scholock. But in addition to the seriousness of Oblermann's rant is the fact that he spends almost ten minutes providing the total embodiment of white Liberal guilt while attempting to deny that such as thing even exists. As for the "controversy" he's ranting about, of course Ferraro is right. What she said wasn't incorrect, it was politically incorrect and she just happened to run afoul of the Forces of Tolerance who are going all out to protect Obama from having to answer for his Pastor of the past 20+ years. The same man who Obama not only had marry him and his wife, baptize his children, inspired the title of his book, and donated some $20K+ to (when of course they weren't burdened with their Ivy League student loans) but also believes as Gospel truth that the U.S. Government created the HIV virus for the express purpose of exterminating the black population. I hope this isn't the change you've been waiting for.
• This week, the Caps vacate the Phone Booth so the NCAA can come on in and head to Nashville on Tuesday at 8 pm before heading up to Chicago on Wednesday at 8:30 pm. Friday night they're in Atlanta for a 7 pm faceoff. The Maryland Men are in Minnesota on Tuesday night at 9:30 pm on ESPN. The women will learn who they are playing at the Cable Box in the NCAA Tournament tomorrow night. The Nats will play the Mets, the Tigers (Tuesday on ESPN at 1 pm), the Astros, the Braves, and the Marlins in Spring Training games.
• As always folks, please send all comments, criticisms, questions, suggestions, corrections, and waky playoff scenarios to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.