Ready For The Weekend

Opening Thoughts: First, I watched the movie, Minority Report, for the first time since I saw it in the movie theater. I was reminded why it is one of my favorites. A thriller that keeps you glued to the TV for 2.5 hours. The perfect medicine for a restful Friday night.

My other thought was just played out on ESPN2's coverage of the Australian Open. Besides loving Andre Agassi, I loved Pete Sampras. I loved to hit the ball like Agassi when I played, but I loved Sampras's composure and the way he sliced and diced opponents. In 1995, he won an epic 5-set quarterfinal, which was more epic by the fact that he broke down in tears on court during the 5th set, because the match took place a day after he found out his coach had cancer. Sampras never showed any emotion on court, so when he started to cry, something had to be up. He fought through it and won the match. It's moments like that I find myself crying. You can laugh all you want, but I will always cry when I see emotion like that stirred up, especially during competition. There's nothing greater than when you see someone dig as deep as one can to compete and try to win.

Here's tonight's sports roundup:

• From last night's basketball, the big news was Gonzaga falling short in its comeback bid at San Francisco. The Zags played hard for 10 minutes, which is a far cry from 40. The West Coast Conference, I'll say it again, deserves 2 teams in. You are now seeing the effects of Gonzaga's rise to national prominence, which has made the rest of the conference increase its talent level and level of play in order to keep up.
• Tonight, my Northmont T-bolts came from behind to win at Piqua by 1. My boys are 10-5, and tied for the GWOC East lead. Go Bolts!!!
• Tom Lehman shot 67 to lead the Buick Invitational after Day 2 (2nd round not quite done due to fog). The notable score is Tiger Woods, remember him? He's 8 under through 17, with a short par-5 left, which puts him 11 under, 4 behind. Mark it down, Tiger has a big year, and will be #1 again.
  
• Agassi, Sharapova, Roddick, and the Williams Sisters are through to the 4th round of the Australian Open. The match to look out for would take place in the quarterfinals where Agassi is on track to meet #1 Roger Federer.

Now for tomorrow's basketball preview:

• Kansas at Villanova. I smell upset. Gametime is 12pm, and road favorites are always vulnerable for early starts. Villanova was 2 minutes away from winning at Boston College, so they won't be intimidated. This is Kansas's toughest test yet.
• Wisconsin at Michigan. I smell upset here as well. Wisconsin has Illinois at their place Tuesday night on national TV, so this makes them ripe for the upset. Wisconsin doesn't play nearly as well on the road as they do at home. Michigan is playing better now that everyone is healthy.
• Wake Forest at Cincinnati. This is UC's last chance to show they are a legit Sweet 16 team. They are more physical inside and should own the glass. Wake is coming off a loss at Florida St., so with this being a non-conference game, will they relax or be ready? This will be a high-scoring game.
• Charlotte at Marquette. Both teams are coming off road conference losses. This is a must win to stay in the race. Charlotte needs to show what all of the preseason hype about them was about.
  
• Texas at Oklahoma. No P.J. Tucker for the rest of the season for Texas, so who will step up? It will have to be Jason Klotz and Brad Buckman. Oklahoma can announce their return to the national scene with a victory after a one year absence.
• Michigan St. at Minnesota. Minnesota is 3-1 in the Big 10 are tough in Williams Arena. This would be a good road victory for the Spartans if they can pull it off. We'll find out if the Gophers are for real.
• Duke at Florida St. With a win, the Seminoles get back to .500 in the ACC, and put themselves back in the NCAA Tournament fix. Duke lost in Tallahassee a couple of years ago, so they should be weary.
• Ohio at Miami. The Redhawks need to keep winning to stay in first in the MAC East. OU's young talent has shown signs of coming around, evident by their routing of Kent St. at the Convo not too long ago. This is a guaranteed good game.
• Southern Illinois at Wichita St. This could be the game of the day. The battle for supremacy in what arguably is the toughest "mid-major" conference in America. Right now, both of these teams would have to get in the NCAA Tourney.
• Pittsburgh at Connecticut. Alright Pittsburgh, here's your chance to prove me wrong and show that you are a good basketball team. Something tells me this won't happen, being on campus at Storrs and it is the first feature College Gameday game. Gampel Pavillion will be electric to say the least.

I'm looking forward to a good night's rest and watching the snow come down tomorrow. It should be a great day of basketball.

Also, I'm putting this out there right now. I'm DEFINITELY planning on viewing First and Second Round NCAA Tournament games at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis March 17th and 19th. All Session Tickets for the Upper Level are $90 (that's for all 6 games). If you're interested, let me know!!!!