Those who know college sports know that Northwestern University is not known for their supremacy in athletics.  They're more known for debate and their academics and their periodic upsets in football.  But during spring season, Northwestern stands out, especially among big ten teams.  Softball is the #4 seed in the upcoming tournament, Girls' Lacrosse are the defending champs and also the #4 seed.  Women's tennis has advanced to the quarterfinals.  Baseball is leading the big ten and boys' golf just won the big ten championship.

But unless you were a Northwestern fan or a die-hard college sports fan, the first thing you'd synonymize with Northwestern athletics these days are the hazing scandals involving men's swimming and girls' soccer.  Now, I'm in no means condoning anything my future classmates partook in, however, it's sad that the first time Northwestern gets serious press for sports it's for something like that.  Especially during a time of great success for Northwestern spring athletics, all the media wants to talk about is hazing.  Hazing is a reality that the media and society have to accept.  No, it's not pretty, but every sport at every college does some sort of hazing.  And nothing was violent in Northwestern's hazings.  Once again, I'm not condoning the actions, but we in the media need to pick and choose wisely what to discuss.  Yes, people want to hear about the hazing, it's a big controversy.  But wouldn't it be nice to discuss how a school not known for its athletics is performing at such a high level this season?  If the hazing scandal opened people's eyes to how Northwestern is faring this season in athletics, great, but I don't think it will.  We need to prioritize better on what is important and decipher importance with what people want to see.   

I'm going to just use Tuesday night and Wednesday night as references for this blog, because that's really all I need.

 I've been a die-hard college basketball fan my whole life, going to DePaul games since I was 5 and filling out brackets since I learned how to spell.  Besides the fact that there's nothing like March Madness, what I love about college basketball is the passion of the kids and the paegentry involved.

Take Tuesday night, Duke vs. North Carolina.  Is there a bigger rivarly in sports? Maybe a few, but this game every year is so fun to watch, no matter how good or bad one of the teams is.  Even though Duke is ranked much higher than UNC it was a phenominal game with a great finish.  Do you get the thrill of watching JJ Redick drain threes from California by watching the NBA? Or the excitment of this heated rivalry.  Obviously with an 82 game schedule you're not going to get the big rivalry games in the NBA but thats why college basketball is better and more fun to watch.

Now last night, I got to watch my future school Northwestern upset the 1st place team in the big ten, Iowa.  Talk about fun to watch--a Princeton offense and pressing defense that culminates in a huge upset and fans running on the court?  Not to mention South Carolina's spirited upset over Florida last night.  The upsets are what make college basketball special and miles ahead of the NBA.  You don't have to hear players complain about salaries, or watch one player from each team take every play one-on-one and shoot 30% from the field, or watch teams fail to play defense in college basketball.  I'm happy the Detroit Pistons are doing so well because they play team basketball and great defense, but that's only one team.  What makes college basketball great is this Saturday I'm going to the DePaul vs. Villanova game.  DePaul is obviously a huge underdog but with enough student support and if they play their A game they can get the upset and maybe I'll get to rush the court.  You don't get that joy from watching the NBA I don't think, you don't get to see North Dakota St.'s kids jump up in excitement after beating Wisconsin or teams like Creighton and Southern Illinois upsetting teams in the tourney. 

The gameplay is better, the atmosphere is amazing, and college basketball will continue to reign over the NBA.

Before I give some Chicago sports-angled predictions for the upcoming year, I'd like to tell a quick story about a recent DePaul basketball game I attended.  It was New Year's Eve and the team looked very sluggish against a weak, injured Florida International team.  We won the game and the players who excelled were Sammy Mejia, Draelon Burns, and Cliff Clinkscales.  But what made it an inspiring game for me to watch as a fan was the game by Marlon Brumfield, the 6'8 senior center.  Most DePaul fans know the story of Brum, he worked his butt off after being a backup to Andre Brown and earned a starting job last season but was ####ed up frequently.  He is always considered the hardest working player on the team by coaches.  This season Brum has been ####ed up and his minutes have been limited.  In the game on Friday, Brum had 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.  But he was so fun to watch.  He got his hand on many balls fed to the post on defense and induced turnovers and bad shots.  All of Florida International's points came from their guards it seemed because of Brum's inside defense, not to mention his constant battle under the basket that led to offensive rebounds by him (2) and other Blue Demons.  When Brum exited, my Dad and I stood to congratulate his game, but few others realized his impact.  Brum is one of those players that makes sports so joyful because he's a feel-good story that makes you feel even better when he does well.

Now some predicitons for 2006, once again with a Chicago angle:

Bulls: Will get the 8 seed, get swept in the first round, but make a great run at the end of the season to make the playoffs that makes most fans forget about their early exit.

Illini: They'll get a 2 seed and get upset in the 2nd round.  Sorry orange crush, but Dee can only do so much.

DePaul: They'll have a couple fun upsets in the Big East and just miss making the big dance after an early Big East Tournament exit.  They'll win a game or two in the NIT.

Northwestern: Bold prediction: The Wildcats make the NCAA tournament for the first time in history after winning the big ten tournament with Vedran Vukusic averaging 40 points per game.

Bears: They'll make the NFC Championship, i obvoiusly want them to win the Super Bowl but it seems like it's the Seahawks year, with a healthy Rex next year things may be different.

Cubs: If they trade Prior: They'll finish 3rd in the NL Central and Miguel Tejada will have many arguments in the already tumultuous clubhouse.

If they keep Prior: they'll get the Wild Card and lose first round.

White Sox: Can anyone say back-to-back?

And last but not least, the Blackhawks prediction...Wait, there's a hockey team in Chicago?