College basketball
Joe Lunardi's latest bracket
ESPN
1 Indiana
1 Louisville
2 Ohio State
6 Butler
10 Cincinnati
11 Kentucky
Jerry Palm's latest bracket
CBS Sports
1 Indiana
1 Louisville
4 Ohio State
5 Butler
9 Cincinnati
12 Kentucky
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Bummer
This fan thought he won $50,000 for hitting a half-court shot. He was wrong.
He needed to hit a three-point shot first. Instead, he wins tickets for life to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
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New Enquirer
What do you think of the new Enquirer? I like it. It is sleek, compact, easy to read and has a sharp look to it. I really like that each story is contained on one page and there is a flow to what you are reading. I like the graphics, there is a sharp look to it. I don't like the multiple sections (six). I was reading while exercising on the bike this morning. I had sections strung out all over the floor. The paper is small enough that all sections should be combined into one section, like the old Sporting News or the USA Today Sports Weekly. I would like to see them add little stuff on the scoreboard page like "On This Date", Did you Know? trivia notes, Who Am I?, even a fantasy baseball/football section. Overall, well done.
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WBC: USA 9 Canada 4
(USA baseball photo)
I don't know about you, but I've always loved the WBC. Team USA wins Pool D and moves on, Canada is eliminated. Joey Votto can return to Reds camp and Brandon Phillips plays on for USA. USA trailed 3-2 with six outs to go. They scored three runs in the 8th, highlighted by an Adam Jones (Orioles) two-run double and added four runs in the 9th. Midland product, Eric Hosmer (Royals) had a three-run double to blow it open in the 9th.
Votto was 1 for 3, 2 runs, 2 walks, K.
Phillips was 1 for 5, run, and he was flashing leather!
Q/A with WBC ambassador, Ken Griffey Jr
NY Times
Here in the U.S., we need to do a better job of supporting our team. The support isn’t as much as it should be. For me, I want a team where I have to turn guys away. I want to be the guy to say, “We’re already full.” You look at the enthusiasm from the other countries and how guys want to play for their team. I think it’s a little different here. But it can change, and it should change.
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NBA: Posterized
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Holy Hoosiers
(Getty images)
Indiana trailed by five points with :52 remaining at Michigan. Cody Zeller then scored the final six points and led Indiana to a 72-71 win and the Hoosiers first outright Big 10 title since 1993. Did you see Michigan's final shot to win by Jordan Morgan? Wow...so close. Check out the video.
Wow: Crean yells at former IU assistant: "You helped wrecked our program!"
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Weekend photos
Sunday afternoon baseball at UC
We had a good time watching UC vs Eastern Michigan. You can't beat 70-degrees and baseball.
I love Marge Schott Stadium and how close you can sit to the action. I took Casey and his cousin Jack, and it cost just $11. UC lost 3-0.
Perfect North on Saturday
(Cousin Jack, Peyton, Me and Casey)
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UC spring football
From Tom DeWees
Video of scrimmage and interviews with Tommy Tuberville and player.
Tuberville: "we've got some plow horses, and we've got some race horses"
Tom talked to Mallik Bomar and Dan Giordano about getting ready for Pro Day at UC this Wednesday.
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Bengals
The Bengals today re-signed K Mike Nugent. His contract had been set to expire tomorrow, and without a new deal he would have become an unrestricted free agent as of Tuesday.
Nugent (5-10, 190; Ohio State) is a 10th-year NFL player in 2013, in his fourth season with the Bengals. In 2011, he set Bengals records for points (132) and field goals (33) in a season. In 2012, his 55-yard field goal on Nov. 25 vs. Oakland tied a Bengals record, equaling a distance set only once previously in club history. He has made 83.8 percent of his field goals as a Bengal, the second-best career percentage in club history. Nugent missed the last four games of last season, plus the Wild Card playoff, due to a calf injury suffered in practice on Dec. 5. His hometown is Centerville, Ohio (Centerville High School), and he left Ohio State with 22 school records.
Reedy: Caponomics and the Bengals
Hobson: Bengals go kicking into free agency
Could Carson Palmer be on the verge of being cut by Raiders?
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Reds
Chapman preferred to stay in bullpen
USA Today
"I developed a taste for the bullpen and wanted to stay there, but the team signed me as a starter, and I believe I can do the job," Chapman says in Spanish. "I work for them, and I just have to get ready to be a starter and throw as many innings as I can. They know better."
2013 All-Star game: Check out how Mets are handling tickets to Fanfest
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NCAA
Sean Kilpatrick named to All Big East 2nd team
Mike Bobinski: Yellow Jacket bracket builder
Atlanta Journal Constitution
“This year I think the seeding job will be a real challenge,” Bobinski said. “We are aware of that, anticipate that going in. I think we’ve really tried to plan out our week in a way that gives us plenty of time to really be diligent about the seeding process.”
Dot...dot....dot
*UC won ugly. But a win is a win and a loss would have been catastrophic. Instead, it was a gutty, gritty, rally. UC committed 11 first half turnovers and trailed 28-23 at the half. In the second half, UC's offense went without a field goal from 12:44 to the 7-minute mark. (UC has to lead the country in five minute plus scoring droughts. South Florida went on a 12-0 run and eventually led 45-37 with 5:45 remaining. The Bearcats outscored the Bulls 10-2 to force OT.
The Bearcats owned the boards, with 14 offensive rebounds, seemingly every rebound in overtime, and 18 second chance points for the game. JaQuon Parker was a stud in OT, with 5 of his 14 points. Attendance was 11,572. UC wound up averaging 9,253, the most in the Mick Cronin era, and the most since the final season under Bob Huggins.
Attendance under Cronin:
2013: 9,253 (+1,184 per game/+13%)
2012: 8,069
2011: 7,344
2010: 8,076
2009: 7,818
2008: 8,534
2007: 8,831
Sadly, twitter reaction would have lead you to believe UC lost. As Butch Jones once told me, fans place too many conditions on UC, how many they win by, who they beat, what day of week game is, what time tip/kickoff is, what the weather is like, who the opponent is, etc. In all seriousness, UC's issue isn't as much the size of the fan base, it's the division within the fan base. So much vitriol and infighting.
Story of the day?: How about Cheikh Mbodj? Huge game with his parents watching (Senegal) for the first time ever. Mbodj had 8 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. He had the biggest play of his UC career late. Paul Dehner Jr. wrote about the performance. See the huge play here:
*UK got a must have win. What a close out. Down 57-50, UK went on an 11-0 run to finish the game. UK held Florida without a FG for final 7-minutes plus. Mike DeCourcy wrote about the game. Tom Leach's radio call at the end was fantastic: "Buzzer!, Cats win, the bubble hasn't burst yet, it's a Senior Day celebration at Rupp!".
*Butler 67 Xavier 63: Love the rivalry between Xavier and Butler. It will be great to see it rollover from the MCC to A10 to Big East. Semaj Christon is simply a stud (20 pts, 5 assists). Philmore big again (16/11), but could not finish around basket late. At the start of the season, I thought Xavier would be hard pressed to win 11 games. They stand 17-13/9-7. Hell of a job by Chris Mack. How about Brad Johansen interviewing Blue II at halftime! I bet it had to be a ruff interview, but probably the sound bite of the night!
Brad Stevens has 163 wins in his first six seasons, tied with Pitt's Jamie Dixon for most all-time. He's 36 years old and stands 163-47 (.776) and two Final Four appearances. Hold a fantasy college basketball coach draft today, and give me any coach in the country, under age of 40 and I'll take Brad Stevens. Hands down.
Game story here and highlights from GoXavier.com
*How about Wright State? Billy Donlon's crew has no seniors and they were picked last in the preseason Horizon League polls. From 13-19 last year to 21-11 this year and they will dance with a win Tuesday night in Horizon finals. Donlon is a rising coaching star. They beat Detroit on a last second shot by Miles Dixon. Check out the shot!
Wright State plays at Valparaiso Tuesday night.
Conference tournament brackets
Big East
(9) Cincinnati vs (8) Providence, Wednesday, noon
SEC
(2) Kentucky faces winner of (7) Arkansas vs (10) Vanderbilt, Friday, 6:30
Atlantic 10
(7) Xavier vs (10) St Joe's , Thursday, 6:30
Big 10
Indiana faces winner of (8) Illinois vs (9) Minnesota, Friday, 11am
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Well done
The Indiana University Southeast men’s basketball team (New Albany, IN) has reached the Final 4 of the NAIA D2 National Tournament. They take on the #2 seed Cardinal Stritch on Monday night. The Grenadiers defeated the College of the Ozarks Saturday night. IUS is coached by former Louisville player Wiley Brown and Brad Zellner from Hamilton. Cameron (Conference POY) and Kevin Mitchel are both from Cincinnati. They received the 11 seed in the tournament where they seed the top 16 of the 32 teams. They have won 24 or their last 25 and have only lost one game in 2013. This the first trip in the history of the program to the Final Four.
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Buzzer beater!
How about this Kentucky High School shot!
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Perfect North
We took Casey and Peyton, and their cousin Jack, to Perfect North on Saturday.
It's the first time I've been there. We had a blast. It was 64-degrees and we were tubing!
We did two hours (11:55-1:55) and it cost a total of $80. Pretty cool to be driving to Perfect North (Lawrenceburg, IN) and not see any snow, and upon arrival, see people skiing and tubing.
WBC
Holy brawl, Batman!: Mexico vs Canada
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Listener photo
From Erik Johson
Hey Lance,
I know you enjoy pictures of your listeners at sporting events so I thought we would pass this along. My name is Erik along with my brother Andy and we are from Montgomery. Friday morning we flew down to Phoenix for the weekend to watch Team USA/Reds. Last night was one of the loudest baseball games I've attended. This includes the playoffs and Bruce's walk off clincher. Every Mexico fan came with flags, drums, vuvlualas and other sound makers. The last out felt as though they won the World Series.
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OSU spring practice: Keeeeeeeeerry Coombs!
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The Soul Stealer
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