I don't believe it

Every year I am amazed when I log on to ESPN.com to check how I faired compared to others in picking the first 32 games of the NCAA Tournament. I did ok this year by getting 24 of 32 winners correctly, however every year it blows my mind that at least one person gets all 32 games correct. I can see someone picking Vermont over Syracuse and UW-Milwukee over Alabama, but both of those games and Bucknell over Kansas? Who with half a brain cell would actually do that? Somebody obviously, and I'd love to track this somebody down, abduct him and immediately drive him to Vegas with me.

Storm of the century...sort of

WCCO weather man Paul Douglas went out on a limb on Thursday and predicted that the Twin Cities would receive somewhere between 1 to 12 inches of snow on Friday. Douglas followed that by saying, "I think there is a fairly good chance that that will be accurate." Gee thanks Paul, for really going out on a limb for us. You really should be congratulated for such a precise and accurate forecast.

As usual, Douglas and his counterparts Barlow and Dahl tried to work everyone up into a panick before "the storm" and the producers go right along with this. We not only have to endure the opening story about the actual snowfall, but then we get the standard live story from the road where the reporter is being torn apart by the blizzard conditions as cars creep by him on the adjacent highway. We also get the cutesy story of the seven year old kid who loves the snow and is joyfully sledding down a local hill. Then we get the snow emergency information and then maybe even an interview with a MNDOT big wig. By the time the first 5 stories are done, it's 10:15 and almost time for the weather.

No way Jose!

Jose Canseco's book was exposed recently for what I figured it always was: crap! Somebody took some time to do some research (which Jose must have forgot about) and found several inconsistencies in the book.

For example, Jose references a conversation he had with Brett Boone about steroids after sliding into second base in a game against the Mariners. Problem is, Jose never made it to second base in any game against the Mariners when Boone was playing in Seattle.

Jose also references sitting on the bench during game six of the 2000 World Series. The thing is, the Yankees won that series in five games.

Looks like Jose might have wanted to hire a fact checker.

From 65 to 4

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year as the NCAA Tournament begins. As usual I will be rooting for my beloved Blue Devils of Duke University. While I don't have a good feeling about the Blue Devils reaching their 11th Final Four under Coach K, I'm excited to see how far J.J. Redick can carry the club.

My final four reads as follows: Illinois, Gonzaga, Duke and North Carolina.

My first round upset special: (12) UW-Milwaukee over (5) Alabama