L.A. is the Tennis Mecca

Now they just need to fight the USC men’s team to the death.

Congratulations Los Angeles. You are the epicenter of collegiate tennis.

On Tuesday the No. 5 ranked UCLA women claimed the title defeating No. 7 North Carolina 4-3 in an all sky blue battle. The women’s bracket was all chalk for most of the tournament until the quarterfinals. At the end of it was UCLA claiming their 2nd title in women’s tennis and 111th championship in school history.

USC men won their fifth title in six years defeating Oklahoma 4-2. The bracket held to form as the top seeded Trojans tangled with the No. 2 Sooners. USC won their 21st title in men’s tennis and yes that’s more than anyone else. More importantly it was the school’s 100th national championship overall. USC won despite losing the double’s point. Something that rarely happens.

So congratulations UCLA and USC, you are better at a typically outdoor sport than the Big Ten. What a shock.

Fighting the Critics of College Basketball

I take it UConn fans are having a good time.

Kentucky and UConn, two teams that couldn’t do any better than an eight and a seven seed respectively, are in the title game tonight.

For many, this game symbolizes everything wrong with college basketball. Connecticut is just coming off some recruiting scandals. Kentucky is a lightning rod for critics as the Wildcats go through recruiting classes the way car insurance companies go through advertising campaigns.

Tweets I’ve seen go as far as calling Kentucky “the Devil of college basketball.”

Kentucky went 4-6 against the RPI Top 50 in the regular season. Three of those losses were to Florida.

Connecticut went 7-5 against the RPI Top 50 in the regular season and has now defeated Florida twice if you count the tournament. But three of those losses came to Louisville. A team Kentucky has now beaten twice.

So both teams have taken out each others nemesis. Both have loss games to squads that failed to make the tournament. Kentucky had the embarrassing defeat to 14-20 South Carolina.

This game tonight is telling many people that the regular season does not matter. That’s a perception fans will have to get over.

Watching the women’s tournament explains why the men’s tournament should be rejoiced. There is a huge lack of parity in the women’s basketball. Parity that has made the men’s tournament so exciting.

Parity is why Mercer can beat Duke. Why Dayton can make it to the Elite Eight as bubble team. Why UConn and Kentucky can make it to the title game.

On the women’s side it was a foregone conclusion that UConn would meet Notre Dame. The two undefeated teams will meet Tuesday night. I’m happy for them and the women’s tournament should be respected. Just read some of the blog posts from the players themselves to see how important it is.

But while the women’s tournament values juggernauts, I like how open the men’s tournament is more. This is not a condemnation on the regular season. It’s just how deep the talent pool is in the men’s game right now. Soon, we will see a 16 seed take down a one. The parity of the sport is reaching that level.

So instead of whining about tonight’s game as a funeral for the good old days of college basketball, look at it as two teams that earned their way through tough competition to get here. The Huskies and Wildcats were challenged greatly on their way to the title game and persevered.

Isn’t that what we want in a national champion?

I survived four hours of ESPN and lived to tell the tale

It was a great game but was it great enough to protect me from the brainwashing power of ESPN?

8:00 – Starting off my four hour ESPN binge. So far so good. A tasteful time lapse video of the grounds crew preparing the field after the Rose Bowl.

8:12 – After a series of bad commercials, including a promo for “Chozen,” (might be the worse cartoon ever) we see a spot for the new Chris Pine movie “Shadow Recruit” featuring the Auburn mascot. It promoted the movie and college football at the same time. Nice job advertisers.

8:16 – With the Florida State band blaring in the background, Lee Corso picks the Seminoles to win by dawning a throwback helmet. All of this occurs while Alabama coach Nick Saban awkwardly critiques Auburn. Shouldn’t he be recruiting or watching film? I’m sure Auburn fans muted the television whenever his face appears.

8:29 – Bo Jackson and Bobby Bowden hug each other at midfield for the coin toss. Cool sight.

8:32 – With smoke still on the field from opening fireworks, we have kickoff. Someone screwed up.

8:33 – Cam Newton introduces Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall, Another moment where Alabama fans muted the TV.

8:36 – Auburn calls a time-out after three plays. Anxious?

8:38 – Chris Weinke reappears out of nowhere to introduce Jameis Winston. The fact I know who Chris Weinke is makes me feel old.

8: 46 – Start checking out the “spider” cam on ESPN 3. It’s just a sky cam but I love hearing the game audio as oppose to the announcing. No commercials but no replays either. FSU is up 3-0.

8:53 – Turn to ESPN 2 for “Title Talk” and instantly regret it. Michael Smith, Jemelle Hill, Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and someone with a southern accent I can’t identify. Shouldn’t Jesse Palmer should be watching the bachelor instead?

9:01 – The woman I couldn’t identify was Cheryl Hines from “Suburgatory.” Disney is just doing everything it can to promote itself.

9:04 – Touchdown Auburn. The Title Talk on ESPN 2 is crazy mismatch of personalities that will be on Awful Announcing soon. Even Taylor Hicks from American Idol would later enter the room. Changing the channel at warp 8.

9:16 – The best tweet so far comes from Pat Forde.

They just announced something in press box about terminating cell hot spots. Think they said BCS reserves the right to kill us if we don’t

— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) January 7, 2014

9:24 – Touchdown Auburn on a 50-yard pass. So much for that great FSU defense.

9:30 – Florida State’s offense looks lost. Winston might have been too loose coming into the game.

9:43 – Auburn misses a chip shot field goal. Still only up 14-3. Might be a turning point for FSU.

9:46 – Florida State fumbles giving the ball right back to Auburn. So much for turning point. A friend texted me saying the score will end up being 45-24 Auburn. It kills him that the SEC is dominating another BCS title game.

9:50 – Touchdown Auburn, 21-3. This could get ugly.

9:58 – Touchdown Florida State, 21-10. Nice to see the Noles quickly get off the mat.

10:06 – Half ends on a punt, how exciting.

10:22 – More Nick Saban offering analysis on how Florida State can get back into the game. How does this make Auburn fans feel?

10:34 – After a three an out for FSU, Auburn nearly fumbles the fair catch. Still not looking good for the Seminoles.

10:46 – Went back to Title Talk and low and behold, Johnny Football is in the room eating food. And get this, they are actually having an intelligent conversation on life after winning the Heisman trophy.

Maybe the “spider” cam should become the primary viewpoint in football broadcasts. It’s like playing Madden.

10:49 – Auburn forces another three and out to protect its 21-13 lead. I thought the experts said this defense was going to give up six yards a play.

11:03 – James Franklin of Vanderbilt is taking a lot of time on the “title talk” set. Also gives a sarcastic conspiracy theory as to how Vandy almost loss to Houston in the BBVA Compass Bowl. Houston fans must be throwing the remote at the TV after hearing that joke.

11:08 – After three quarters it’s Auburn 21-13.

11:10 – Holy Cow, a trailer for the new Lego movie. How did Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson sign up for this.

11:20 – Check out ESPN NEWS in the “Film Room” So much better than the chaos of Title Talk. Meanwhile FSU gets an interception and scores a touchdown. Auburn still leads 21-20 as the two point conversion option is taken out due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger love the call. I do not. Too big of a stage for that flag.

11:29 – Tre Mason has been carrying Auburn on the ground like he has all year. If he breaks one it’s all over.

11:32 – Auburn bleeds the clock with a long drive but only gets a field goal to make it 24-20. Don’t think that’s good enough.

11:34 – Improbable touchdown on a kickoff for FSU. 27-24. Viewed it on Fan cam as the Seminole fans went nuts in the bottom left corner.

Go Crazy FSU fans! Except for the guy in the corner who never moved.

11:36 – Friend who thought FSU was about to get rolled is befuddled when he turns the game back on. “How are they ahead?”

11:39 – Auburn converts on third and long as Marshall escapes the rush. Another miracle in the works?

11:46 – Tre Mason finally breaks one for a nice touchdown. 31-27. FSU’s defense is clearly winded.

11:52: – Winston completes a 49-yard pass to Rashad Greene with a touchdown saving horse collar tackle the refs missed. Under a minute to go and FSU must get a touchdown.

11:55 – Auburn’s secondary miscommunicated on a 1st down play from 12 yard line. Lucky to get an incompletion as the coverage was a traffic jam of Tigers running into each other.

11:57 – On third down the Tigers get too physical in their press coverage as Chris Davis is called for pass interference in the end zone. Only a matter of time now.

11:58 – Touchdown FSU on first and goal. The Seminoles have successfully completed their first miracle comeback of the season. And they picked the best time to do it too.

12:03 – Ball Game. Congratulations to Florida State on their undisputed National Championship. Not every BCS title winner can say “undisputed.” Hopefully that will change in the playoff format. Bye bye BCS.