I have the bracket all set up at Yahoo under Group ID number

Group ID# 32712

Password:  foxsports

We have sixteen teams so far including Lisa, Vearl, Norcal, JGrace, LSUFan, TSI, PFBlazers, and Evilquacks. So  come and join and show off your NCAA basketball knowledge.    Compete against the best, or are you afraid?

Socal

It's my favorite time of year again, when March means something.  The madness is about to begin, and the only thing that matters is bragging rights.  I have set up the Fox Sports Challenge for all who want to show their skill at picking the winner.  Follow the link to yahoo fantasy sports, and the Fox Sports Bracket Challenge, password Foxsports, and sign up now.

It is always fun if 20 or 30 bloggers sign up in one location and pick their winners.

Socalsportsfan

It's my favorite time of year again, when March means something.  The madness is about to begin, and the only thing that matters is bragging rights.  I have set up the Fox Sports Challenge for all who want to show their skill at picking the winner.  Follow the link to yahoo fantasy sports, and the Fox Sports Bracket Challenge, password Foxsports, and sign up now.

It is always fun if 20 or 30 bloggers sign up in one location and pick their winners.

Socalsportsfan

Les Miles:  Miles is going to Michigan, Miles is staying at LSU, or Miles is acting like Saban?  The choice is easy;  Miles pulled a Saban.  Remember when Nick said he wasn't going to the Dolphins, then later on he said he wasn't going to Alabama.  Well he was just waiting for the best offer and Miles is doing the same thing.  LSU has reportedly renegotiated his contract so he could stay at LSU, but I will not be suprised if he still moves on to Big Blue because of more Green.  Money talks, and whichever team ponies up the most dollars will get Miles.   I for one think Miles would be an #### to take the Michigan job and he will stay at LSU.  He walked into a program that was winning and had loads of talent.  If he leaves he is going to a Big 10 team that is in dire need of rebuilding and is the fourth or fifth best team in the conference behind Ohio State, Illinois, and Wisconsin.  Miles can stay at LSU and keep on winning, or move on to the Big 10 and struggle.  Hmmm, he has LSU over a barrel, they will pay him a huge addition to his contract, and he keeps on winning.

Jason Whitlock:  I like Whitlock, and for the most part I agree with much of what he says.  The only problem I have with his article is the timing.  I understand why he wanted to get out in front of the arrests and blame it as black on black crime.  In fact, 3 of the 4 arrested were black, so it appears he was write on that count, but it is appearing more and more like a botched robbery attempt.  That does not change the message that Whitlock is espousing.  There is a black ####, and drugs are definitely tied to violent crime.  Sean Taylor was hanging around a bad element.  At least one of the accused was at his house earlier that month for a party.  All of the accused have a rap sheet a mile long littered with drug charges and petty theft.  So in a very real sense Whitlock was right, but where he went wrong was in his timing.  There was no reason to write this story this week.  The message could have waited until Sean was buried and in the ground.  Whitlock could have waited until Taylor's grieving parents had a chance to bury their son.  Whitlock would have then had more evidence for his story and he would not have to recant any of it.  I still like Whitlock, but he falls into the same trap as many of us do in blogging, and that is trying to beat everyone to the next story.  If your story has merit, it can wait to do it right.

BCS:  I hate to see Ohio State slide into the national title game, but it appears that will happen.  Who gets to play them and probably beat them?  I hope LSU gets to go because I think the winner of the SEC title game should get some extra consideration, but I really don't think it matters.  I think Ohio State will be overmatched by either Georgia, LSU, or even Oklahoma.  Ohio State has not played a game in several weeks and they will be rusty.  For sure the old tune about a national play off is about to be sung by every college football analyst on ESPN and every other network.  Never mind that the BCS has gotten it right the last few years and in the end the eventual winner will have a solid case for their title, we want more football games.  We want to erase all doubt.  Can I just say that even with a college play off, there will be those who argue that someone was left out, a missed call cost the real winner a game, and that had teams been seeded differently we might have a different winner.  The only way to have a true champion is to go undefeated and then win in the BCS Championship game.   Wait, what about Hawaii?  I guess going undefeated doesn't mean much.

Socalsportsfan

Thanksgiving has to be one of my all-time favorite holidays.  Not just because I get to eat as much as I want without counting the calories, but because it is a truly American holiday.  While it is true that Congress made Thanksgiving an official holiday on the fourth Thursday of the month in 1941, its celebration can be traced all the way back to 1789 with George Washington proclaiming a day of thanksgiving.  Lincoln did so as well in 1863.  What a great idea to sit around and count our blessings.  Too often we forget just how fortunate we are, well everyone except the turkey.

There are so many things to be thankful for, and today is the day set aside to reflect on those things and thank God for them!  Yesterday I passed a homeless lady in the street, and it made me think about the many things we have as a family that she does not have.  We have a home, cars, food, and most of all each other.  Even the homeless in San Diego have something to be thankful for that other beggars do not.  In our city, thousands of pounds of food are donated to feed the homeless and shelters all around this county will be feeding the unfortunate.  As I have traveled all over this world, I have seen many beggars in other countries, and most of those people do not have the shelters, churches, and many other civic organizations which go out of their way to provide for the homeless like we do in America.  Homelessness is awful, but once again even the homeless in this country have something to be thankful for today.  

We as Americans have many things to be thankful for, and while our country is by no means perfect, it is the most tolerant in the entire world.  Often I hear people complaining about intolerance in our country, but the very ability to complain of intolerance proves what a great country America is.  In many other parts of the world the mere whisper of things that are anti-government are squelched decisively.  Don’t believe me?  Go to Iran and try to practice religious freedom, or try China.  In Islamic countries it is fine to go and pray towards Mecca 5 times a day, or is it three, but try to openly worship another God and see what is allowed.  Things such as homosexuality, or same sex marriage, and living together are not only illegal, but in many cases punished severely.  Not so in America.  We not only tolerate all of these things, but we have sitcoms on television which openly celebrate them.  If you don’t believe me, just try to get Will and Grace on the Al Jazirah network. 

My point is not to bash Iran or any other country.  That is the culture they have chosen.  The point is that in America, we are made up of individuals who came here to seek religious freedom.  America is not perfect, but in comparison to most other countries I have visited, we are a tolerant nation and it is one of the many things that make America great.  (Even Bush gets a pardon today for his many mistakes) So sit back today and enjoy your turkey and dressing while the Colts beat up on the Falcons.  Spend some time with your family and give thanks for the many blessings each of us has including the one true American Holiday, Thanksgiving.

Socalsportsfan

Where do I begin?  So much to talk about, and yet so little time to post.  That is why I enjoy these weekly rants where I can vent all the frustrations for an entire week, or in my case the past month.

BCS:  It looks like no one wants to be number two in the BCS.  Certainly Kansas can control their destiny, but I think Missouri will beat them to win the Big 12 North, and then they will have to beat either Texas or Oklahoma to face LSU in the BCS final.  Of course, that is assuming LSU wins the SEC Championship which is no easy task.  They will have to face a Georgia team that is looking tougher with each passing game.

Kevin Garnett trade: Back when Danny Ainge pulled the trigger on Kevin Garnett, I was one of the few who said it was a brilliant move.  People kept saying, "They can't win without a bench!"  Well guess who is looking brilliant now?  Yep, the Celtics are rolling and Minnesota is struggling.  Jefferson is great, but without a supporting cast the Timberwolves are right where the Celts were last year, in last place.  You need superstars in this league to win.  The Celtics have three and are well on their way to winning the East. 

Oden or Durant:  Once again, it shows you why you don't sign a big man who only plays one injury ridden year of college.  Big guys are prone to injuries, and Oden is no exception.  When you are trying to make that number one pick, a big man is always the way to go, if he has proved himself in college.  Big men like Shaquille Oneal played for three seasons and proved he could take the pounding.  So did Patrick Ewing, Kareem, and Mourning, but not Oden.  People made fun of Durant for not benching more than his weight, but Seattle is very happy Portland went big.  Durant is strong enough to lift a basketball, shoot it in the air, and sink a 3 pointer when the game is on the line.  That is strong enough for me.

Barry Bonds:  Well it took the feds 4 years to bring an indictment, and I say it will take another 4 for anything to stick.  Perjury is one of the hardest crimes to prosecute someone for.  Not only do they have to prove you are lying, but they have to prove intent.  Victor Conte has gone on record that Barry was not given steroids, as has his personal trainer Greg Anderson.  Unless they have a smoking gun somewhere, and I don't mean that so called positive test, they will have to do a lot better.  So far they have only had to try Barry in the court of public opinion, a place he will always lose, but in a real court where witnesses are cross examined it will be a different story.  Let's see Kim  Bell and a few others stand up and testify and we will see how they like being put on trial.  Barry will never see any jail time nor will he be found guilty.  The one thing this possibly accomplishes is keeping him from suiting it up next year.

Socalsportsfan

This has been one interesting week for sure.  Sunday we watched as the fires in southern California spread due to the Santa Anna winds and we wondered if we could call off school.  At 5:30 am on Monday morning, I received a call from my superintendent, and we quickly emailed our school families that school was closed.  Then I met him at our campus as we reviewed our set protocol for these types of situations.  After notifying the news stations and posting information to our website, I headed home to be with my family.

That afternoon we got the reverse 911 call telling us we had to evacuate our home.  I have lived in Florida for most of my life and I have had to evacuate for a hurricane before, but the feeling is not the same.  I can't explain it, but to me the fire evacuation is just worse.  Watching on the television as you see the fires continue to creep towards homes, you just pray that yours doesn't burn.  Luckily, ours didn't.  The military tankers were able to get up into the air yesterday and they stopped the fire from spreading to our side of the road.  We were able to get back into our house Tuesday night late.   I am very thankful for our military for stepping in and helping to put out these fires.  Without their help, many more homes would have gone up in smoke. Just like in Katrina, the military was standing by to help, but the rules are in place and they will not step in until they are asked. The Governator was wise enough to come in and welcome the federal help fairly quickly.

We were lucky enough to evacuate to a friend's home for the first night, but we were seriously considering moving our kids to Qualcomm Stadium where 12-25 thousand people went.  If you were watching on the television, it was like a circus there.  They had massage the####s, live bands, buffet food, and toys for the children.  I have to say that our local community is the best I have ever seen.  The people of San Diego and the surrounding communities really chipped in to make this experience as good as it could be for an evacuee. 

It's not all positive though.  1200 people and counting have lost their homes to the fires.  I will also say that I was a little miffed as the names of several Charger's football players kept scrolling across the TV screen telling us they had to evacuate.  I for one am not a respector of persons and the idea that LT had to evacuate being more important than my neighbor is insulting to me personally.  Maybe someone else out there wanted to know that juicy bit of information, but not me.  I do understand the need for telling us that the Chargers may not play this weekend, but the fact that a few ball players had to leave their homes is not important when you consider over 1 million other people had to evacuate.  My life and property are just as important to me and my family as Ladinian Tomlinson, and I am sure LT would agree.  I don't blame the football players for this insult, but rather the media. 

Anyway, it's great to be back home.  It's good to get back online.  Keep praying that the winds settle down and that the fires are extinguished very soon.  Let's not forget that the fires are also raging to the North in LA as well.  The San Diego fires are getting most of the attention, but the people up LA are no less as important.  Thanks for the emails and the comments.

Socalsportsfan

There is an argument to be made that Barry Bonds cheated and his records should have an asterisk next to them.  I for one disagree because I think the fact Barry hit so many homeruns during an era when pitchers were juicing just as much as he was makes his HR feat all the more remarkable.

The fact is that people do not always take steroids just to bulk up and hit for power.  Pitchers have known for a long time that taking steroids will help them recover quicker and allow them to throw harder.  Paul Byrd is the latest pitcher to have his name associated with HGH.  Roger Clemens has long been suspected, and once the list is printed from George Mitchell’s report we will all see just how many pitchers have benefited from steroids.  

Say what you want about Barry Bonds, but just be fair and call out all the cheaters when the list is printed.  If you want an asterisk next to his name in Cooperstown, then you might as well put one next to the Rocket.  He didn’t come back without a little help from somewhere.  It is pretty scary now that all of these “rejuvenation” clinics are having their records revealed.  Who’s next on the list?  Pedro, Curt, or Randy Johnson would not surprise me at all.

SoCalSportsFan