Tuesday Treacle

Gil's Gone Wild!
Gilbert Arenas finally brought his hit parade home yesterday with a 51-point outburst at the Verizon Center, including a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 114-111 win over the Utah Jazz. It was Arenas' third 50+ game this season but his first on the Wizards' homecourt and it ties the arena scoring record set by Michael Jordan in 2001. I am starting to get the feeling that iyou'd feel cheated if you bought a ticket to see Arenas play and he scored less than 40. And I can't believe that the Verizon Center is not sold out every game .

Tomlinson's Tantrum

So LaDainian Tomlinson says that the Patriots showed no class when they imitated Shawne Merriman's sack dance on the Chargers' midfield logo at the end of Sunday's playoff game? Really? Would he have preferred that they come up with their own original choreography? Was that really a story on SportsCenter or did I accidently switch over to "Bring it On" on the USA Network? I just can't believe that a professional football player, who just had one of the best seasons in the history of the game, cares about the dancing that much. I guess we'll be seeing Tomlinson, Merriman and Emmett Smith in "Stomp the Yard, Part 2." I wish somebody would sit these guys down with Chuck Bednarik or Art Donovan to learn what's important to a real football player, although I guess Rosie Grier might have a different opinion.

Global Boring

Did you watch the Golden Globe Awards last night? Yeah, me neither. Okay, I tuned in for about five minutes, and here's what I learned: the star of Ugly Betty, which won for Best TV Comedy, is not really ugly. I know, I know, shocking. I've never seen the show, but I can't believe any show on TV is funnier than "The Office." The brief clip they showed last night where Steve Carell affirms his racial sensitivity by comparing his respect for Jesus Christ and Apollo Creed was ten times funnier than the clip of Ugly Betty walking into a plate-glass wall. Stupid politically correct voters.

Also, Annette Benning is aging much better than Warren Beatty. I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise considering that she is more than ten years younger than he. This was the segment that caused me to begin the channel surf. I mean, I am sure that Tom Hanks meant well in his tribute to Beatty, and he is just so gosh-darn earnest, but this was his worst performance since Bonfire of the Vanities, with none of the quirky charm of Joe Versus the Volcano.

Neuheisel New Hire
Baltimore Ravens' coach Brian Billick announced that he has promoted quarterbacks coach Rick Neuheisel to offensive coordinator. I have no idea how this will affect the team, but here is what I know about Neuheisel: he was a success at Colorado, where kept his players happy with inner-tubing trips and his guitar-playing antics, but he left for the big bucks at the University of Washington and left a mild stench of NCAA violations at Boulder. He was also successful at Washington, but was fired after he won a big-money ($5,000) NCAA basketball pool. He then sued UW and the NCAA for wrongful termination and won $4.5 million. Reports stated that Neuheisel shed a few tears on the stand during his testimony. Now, I think it's alright to cry (see Rosie Grier link above) during a multimillion dollar trial, but only if you're the guy who has to pay.

Poll Vault

The title of today's post refers to the big leap made by Virginia Tech to the Number One spot in my local hoops poll. I don't know what's gotten into the Hokies, but they are ripping through the Atlantic Coast Conference like it's football, not basketball, season. Imagine the horror down on Tobacco Road when they see Boston College tied with Virginia Tech atop the ACC standings. Maryland did exactly what I thought they would this week, and Georgetown is finding wins hard to come by without Marc Egerson in the Really Big East. If the Hoyas don't get it together soon, they will get lost in that league and find themselves in the NIT. GW's out-of-conference losses don't look as bad as some thought, but the Colonials probably still have to win the A-10 to get a bid. After the success George Mason had last year, the committee will be under pressure to take at least two CAA teams, and they will have plenty to choose from. Big Stein won't post the official results until later today, but my poll was done yesterday, so here it is.

1. Virginia Tech
Dick Vitale’s head explodes as Hokies follow win at Duke with upset of North Carolina. Virginia Tech now 5-0 against teams in the state of North Carolina. Seth Greenberg left messages with Davidson, Elon and Guilford last week to see if they have any open dates left this season.
2. VCU
Rams have won four of five since Anthony Grant moved Wil Fameni from the starting lineup to a reserve role. So you could say they have benefited from Fameni relief efforts.
3. Maryland
Hope you like theme park rides, Terps fans, because it’s gonna be a season full of thrills, spills, and chills (also mad skillz, platinum grillz, Strawberry fils and, um, Beverly Sills).
4. Georgetown
JTIII presents plan to Georgetown administration that requests a “surge” of additional scholarships
5. GW
Colonials rebound from a loss at UMass by beating St. Bonaventure, which is named for a 13th century theologian nicknamed Doctor Seraphicus by his contemporaries for his heavenly three-point shooting touch.
6. Old Dominion
Monarchs players “agree to disagree” about the Rosie-Trump-Barbara feud in time to win two of three last week.
7. Virginia
Cavaliers’ self-esteem level lower than the GEICO caveman’s right now.
8. Loyola
Greyhounds coach Jimmy Patsos making good on his New Year’s resolution to win every game in 2007.
9. George Mason
Jim Larranaga finally finishes returning all his messages from last March, decides to start coaching again.
10. William and Mary
The Hottest Team in the CAA (W&M) met the CAA Team of Destiny (VCU) and Destiny prevailed. Then William and Mary played Delaware and lost its second straight. Still better than AU or Navy, though.

George Mason 73, Towson 44

Sports fans often argue about which is worse: losing a close game or getting blown out. One week after letting a win get away in double overtime against Virginia Commonwealth, Towson went to the other extreme of losing and let George Mason put on a clinic last night. I don't have a strong rooting interest in the Tigers yet, so I can't claim to be heartbroken by the close loss, but I'll take that game over the one I saw last night every time.

The last time I saw the Patriots play, they were getting a final fitting for their Cinderella slippers against UConn in the NCAA Tournament. They beat the Huskies on national television in a sold-out Verizon Center to get to the Final Four. The media frenzy has cooled, to put it mildly, with GMU's 7-7 start this season. Still, there were signs of a reawakening in a 55-34 win over UNC-Wilmington on Monday. Towson, on the other hand, lost another double-OT at Georgia State before bouncing back with a win against Delaware.

In a promising atmosphere that included an ESPNU telecast and a good crowd thanks to a smart cross-promotion with the Ravens, everything seemed fine for the Tigers until the opening tip. Actually, that's a bit of a stretch; TU hung with the Patriots for the first 10 minutes of the half. Unlike the stymieing fullcourt pressure of VCU, Mason sat back in the halfcourt and swarmed Gary Neal whenever he got the ball. Early on, Neal was able to find open teammates, and the Tigers trailed 15-13 halfway through the first period; but when the teams went to their benches, GMU's defensive intensity picked up. Previously open passing lanes were suddenly closed as more than one Tiger found himself in the air with the ball and nowhere to go. The Patriots closed out the half on an 18-6 run.

After that, the only suspense was who would win the Ravens' halftime free-throw shooting fundraiser sponsored by a local radio station. The loudest cheers of the night came for Baltimore's first round pick, Haloti Ngata, who certainly has a WWE career available if the NFL doesn't work out, and kicker Matt Stover, who missed a free throw, but then nailed a three. Like basketball players, NFL guys don't look too big when they are together on the court, until the normal sized humans join them.

Towson tossed in a couple threes to open the second half but the Patriots answered quickly and then basically stepped on the Tigers' throat as they built the lead throughout the half. Neal finished with 18 points, seven below his average, and no other Tiger reached double figures. Mason got its typical 16 and 18 from Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell, respectively, the two remaining components from last year's iron five, but the real revelation for GMU coach Jim Larranaga was the play of point guard Jordan Carter, who had nine points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and was perfect from the floor.

Last week, I thought VCU looked very strong in the CAA race because they had such a balanced team effort. George Mason looks like it has the personnel to compete and showed it in spades last night. Towson badly needs to find a point guard to take some of the pressure off of Neal in the backcourt.

I'll be taking at least one more look at the Tigers this season when they host UNC-Wilmington next weekend. Now that I think about it, I have yet to see them win in four tries over the last few years. Could there be a FitzJinx?