Thank you Mom and Dad for not letting me become a brat

Opening thought: The morons of the day, without question go to the family featured on MTV's Sweet 16 tonight. This show was so ridiculous, I took notes to remember all of the unbelievable, inconceivable things this family did. Ava, decided to throw her party at The Beverly Hills Four Seasons where she had her own personal party consultant, which we all get when we turn 16, right? She flew to Paris, PARIS, to try and find the right dress for her party. She didn't, so she had 2 custom made for her. During the show, her dad says, "If she likes it and wants it, we have to get it for her." When I hear this, I think, ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!! The parents have no control over her whatsoever, which is easy to figure out when you have her mom wearing her clothes trying to be 16 as well. That's a big pet peeve of mine. Parents should not act as if they're kids. YOU'RE ADULTS, YOU SHOULD BE SETTING AN EXAMPLE FOR US. YOU'RE NO LONGER KIDS, GET OVER IT!!! And this wasn't the end of it. Ava goes to Santa Barbara without mom's permission, in which mom cancels her credit card. Ava loses it and says, "They totally killed my birthday, they didn't buy me a car (range rover)." Awww, poor baby. But, of course, she gets the Range Rover anyway. At her party, she was carried in like Cleopatra and each table had a genie lamp.

And the final bill was: $200,000!!!!!! When they said this, I literally started hyperventilating. I don't think my Sweet 16 party cost more than $100. $200,000, I'm still in shock. Well, it can be assured that if Ava's mommy and daddy ever call me to try and give their daughter a job, all they will get is a dialtone.

Now that that's over with, let's talk hoops:

• Illinois 81, Michigan St. 68. I'm running out of words to describe how well Illinois plays. At one point in the 1st half, I said to myself, "They're relying too much on the 3, they're not getting anything inside, it may come back to hurt them in the 2nd half." This was after Dee Brown made a fadeaway 23-footer. All the Illini do is come out and play the 2nd half better than they did the first, shooting close to 70%, getting any shot they wanted, inside or out. When you shoot that well against a Tom Izzo team, that's saying something. Michigan St.'s deficiencies showed up tonight: not tough enough to be a top team, and no true point guard. Dee Brown and/or Deron Williams have the ability to control the game, whereas the Spartans lack that kind of player. For example, Paul Davis only had 10 shot attempts. When Davis got the ball inside, he was effective, scoring 12 points. But, the Spartans don't have the floor general that can continually get the ball to the hot man, which is whay Davis doesn't see more of the ball.
• Clemson 88, Maryland 73. After their best week of the season, the Terps go on the road and lose to a team they hadn't lost to in 8 YEARS!!!! After all of the praise I gave the Terps last week I take it all back, especially to Nick Caner-Medley. Against a .500 team, you have to do better than 4/14 from the field. Enjoy the bubble Maryland, that's where you are until March or you go on some incredible winning streak.
• Boston College 62, West Virginia 50. Nick Caner Medley should look at how BC's big two perform every night. Craig Smith: 23 points, 8 rebounds. Jared Dudley: 15 points, 6 rebounds. That's coming to play every night.
• Mississippi St. 71, Florida 57. The SEC isn't far behind the Big 10 in futility. Kentucky and Alabama are definitely the class of the league, with Mississippi St. lagging behind, and Florida lagging behind even further. Mississippi St. is virtually unbeatable at home, but stick them on the road or at a neutral site and it's a whole different ballgame.
• Creighton 73, Wichita St. 69. Even though Creighton has struggled recently, their home floor remains a very tough place to play. Creighton is to the MVC as Gonzaga is to the WCC, they have made their conference that much tougher throughout by their success.
• Utah is far and away the best team in the Mountain West. Andrew Bogut is and has been the real deal. However, I don't think they'll go far in the NCAAs because as dynamic a player Bogut is, his supporting cast won't be able to carry the load.

Tonight in The Amazing Race, Adam and Rebecca avoided being eliminated because it was a non-elimination lag. Aaron and Hayden currently holding the lead going into next week's finale. Adam and Rebecca are two of the more childish adults I've seen. They can't go 5 minutes without arguing with one another.

Meanwhile, the schoolwork continues, specifically studying for Friday's micro exam. I spent too much money at the grocery store today, way too much. I did find Rain Man on DVD for $10!!! It seems as if Kroger is trying to match WalMart's collection of cheap movies.