Beltway Basketball Bonanza... with snow and Super Bowl spillover...

Hope everyone got through the wintry weekend in one piece... a time for teams to heat up with about a month before Selection Sunday. While some schools bounce back from disappointing losses by plowing ahead, a few find themselves stuck in a major drift.


Georgetown bounced back from a loss to South Florida (worry not; the Bulls have always been a tough matchup for the Hoyas) with consecutive Big East victories... and while outscoring then- #2 Villanova 103-90 was impressive-- the Hoyas gritty rally from nine down in the second half to top a Providence team playing for its postseason life was notable in its own right. Greg Monroe (12 assists) continues to color outside the big-man box... and one can't help but like the 1-2 backcourt punch of Austin Freeman and Chris Wright--especially as a tournament-tested tandem. Sympathy to the Friar Faithful: PC's next three foes after facing #8 Georgetown are #5 Villanova, #4 West Virginia and #3 Syracuse--ouch.



Alma Mater Update-- Syracuse is off to a 23-1 start (best ever in school history)... Wesley Johnson looks like he could be named Rookie and Player of the Year (although Villanova's Scottie Reynolds remains the likely POY winner)... tough tests remain in the form of top ten teams Georgetown and Villanova; plus a pair of games against a Louisville team squarely on the bubble.



Maryland met its match this week... the only opponent able to slow down Gary Williams' juggernaut is the winter weather-- pushing the Terps Wednesday night game with Virginia to Monday February 15th (hope they don't overdo the chocolates on Valentine's Day). Greivis Vasquez is making his case for ACC Player of the year... nobody means more to his team and nobody electrifies the crowd for or against himself like Vasquez.

Snowstorm thoughts-- WOW. After getting hit by 15-20 inches last weekend... 10-20 were expected this week-- although it reads more like 5 to 10. Once again proving sequels are often disappointing... with the exception of Beat Street 2-- Electric Boogloo...

George Mason cooled off in CAA losses at Georgia State and Drexel... but heated up in the second half aginst VCU-- rallying from 15 points down to nip the Rams in overtime 82-77. While the template for the Patriots this winter has been Cam Long outside and Ryan Pearson inside... coach Jim Larranaga's bench of interchangable parts has produced when put in the right position-- the latest being Mike Morrison's 18 points and 10 rebounds against VCU. Red Flag-- GMU visits Old Dominion Saturday in battle for second place in the conference... and the Patriots are just 4-3 on the road in the CAA this winter.

WHO'S THAT? Another exciting Super Bowl interrupted by another baby boomer rock act. Don't get me wrong-- I've always been a big WHO fan... and Roger Daltrey brings it at age 65 better than most singers one third of his age-- but Pete Townsend "trying to be hip" is worse than Ron Wood "needing a leash to keep him on stage" in the recent SB halftime spectrum (Prince "getting busy with his guitar?" remains untouchable). At first I heard they were going to do a "medley"-- come on, kids--Barry Manilow sings medleys... the WHO's supposed to rock. And also, did we need constant closeup shots of the drummer? I mean, I know he's Ringo's kid (Zak Starkey also has drummed for Oasis this decade) but Keith Moon will forever be the WHO's drummer (sorry, Kenny Jones). Can't wait to see the EAGLES sing next year.

George Washington finds iself battling for its Atlantic Ten tournament life-- the Colonials 70-63 loss to Duquesne was the team's third in a row and plummets GW into a tie for 12th (I know... it's called the Atlantic Ten and there are 14 teams... with 12 making the conference tournament... college math always intrigued me). Not all is lost-- after facing last place Fordham this Saturday, GW has fellow cellar dwellers UMass and Richmond in short order-- an opportunity to clinch an A-10 berth.

Super Bowl thoughts-- Remember when the commercials were great and the games were awful? Since 2001, blowouts have been the exception as opposed to the rule: six SB's were decided by a touchdown or less from 1967 to 1997, seven such games since... and that doesn't include this year's come from behind 14 point Saints win. What a crazy decade... with former laughingstock franchises like the Saints and Buccaneers winning titles (and the Cardinals reaching the big game).

American was outshot and outrebounded by Patriot League leader Lehigh (Mountain Hawks not nearly as cool a nickname as the Engineers) 77-65... early foul trouble for Stephen Lumpkins hampered the Eagles inside game-- and 9 of 34 three point shooting will not get things done.
AU now faces two games in three days--weather permitting--against Bucknell and Colgate (January 17th's win against the Raiders began a 4-2 Eagle run).

Snow songs-- "Moonlight Mile" wraps up the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers LP in fine fashion... whenever there's even a flurry I throw it on. "Snowblind" by Styx is a cool song as well, unfortunately there was a clamor to ban the song for drug references, spurring Dennis DeYoung to work on an album protesting censorship-- yes folks, the infamous Kilroy Was Here that gave us "Mr. Roboto".




Howard saw its January surge turn into a February swoon...as four straight losses have the Bison at under .500 in the MEAC. Monday's 77-64 loss at South Carolina State was the team's first double digit conference defeat other than the one to league-leading Morgan State (and I should rephrase myself... league-crushing Morgan State) The MEAC with its tight turnaround schedule of Saturday-Monday roadswings can be brutal to teams finding their way-- the good news is the Bison are home for a pair against North Carolina A&T as well as Norfolk State...

Presto's Pick: Super Bowl scramble and why the WHO?

The NFL season concludes this weekend... and naturally we celebrate America's biggest sporting event with a musical act from Great Britain. The WHO play the halftime show this year... and there are plenty of cases for and against their selection-- as there is for anything and everything else this weekend.

Full disclosure-- I was heavy into the WHO while in high school... although I appreciated the Stones and enjoyed the Beatles, I connected with the WHO. Blame two duets: Paul McCartney hamming up with Michael Jackson in "Say, Say, Say" and Mick Jagger being rather ambiguous with David Bowie during "Dancing in the Streets" (SOUTH AMERICA!). Besides, the Beatles were the Good Guys and the Stones were the Bad Boys-- and I was more of a good guy who made bad decisions crossed with a bad guy who tried to do good things. The WHO's ridiculously tight singles from the 60's charged me... while albums like Who's Next and Quadrophenia spoke to me. More on that later...


Hall Pass-- voting's announced at 4pm Eastern... Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith are slam-dunks; then there are more than a few great players who will just sneak in or be left out in the cold. While there's a DC area groundswell for Russ Grimm (and he is deserving), the biggest omission continues. Ray Guy remains unjustly robbed. How can the premier punter of his generation be denied? If Jan Stenerud's in Canton-- lets have at least one punter (who also handled kickoffs and was the Raiders emergency #3 quarterback) to balance things out. They once examined footballs for helium after Guy blasted a few for touchbacks--and anytime the periodic table of elements is called into question...you have to make him a hall of famer.


My generation?-- when will the NFL move into the 21st century artist-wise? I thought the league turned the corner with Prince in 2007... but after Tom Petty (best work was in the 80's) and Bruce Springsteen (best work was in the 70's)...the WHO represent another step back-- say what you will about "Eminence Front" and "Athena", but their best work--singles like "Substitute" and "I Can See For Miles and Miles" with groundbreaking albums like Sell Out and Tommy. Does this mean Little Richard and Chuck Berry (50's icons) are on deck for next year? And who from the 40's can we scare up for 2012? My pick for next year's entertainment: The Eagles. Mainstream enough... still young enough... and they all love football. I already have their set planned: "Life in the Fast Lane" followed by "Take it Easy"... with "Heartache Tonight" sending the fans home happy... and baby boomers off to their mid-game nap. Somebody's gonna hurt someone...

Labor Pains-- the league has prospered over the last 20+ years while we've seen a lockout and a World Series cancelled, an NBA season turned into a 50-game mockery and an NHL lockout plus a season wiped out of existence. The NFL has taken the lead on the sporting landscape because it's been playing uninterrupted since 1987... a message to owners and players-- don't mess this up. Get a CBA in place and avoid an uncapped year... because we want to follow X's and O's, not percentages of the gross and revenue streams. Continue to collect your ridiculous (but market-bearing) checks... don't try to reinvent a wheel that's been printing money for nearly a quarter century.

Another case against the WHO-- did the NFL not realize that two of the band's core members have passed away? John Entwhistle earlier this decade and Keith Moon back in the 1970's. It's like having the Temptations with just Otis Williams... the Grateful Dead with merely Phil Lesh or the Beach Boys with only Mike Love.

While Roger Daltrey's voice and Pete Townshend's mind/heart/soul are the face of this Hall of Fame band, let's not discount how instrumental (literally and figuratively) Entwhistle and Moon were to defining sound. Moon's scattershot ADD drumming always seemed to be one step away from chaos...but along with Entwhistle's melodic bass that made its presence known without overshadowing the others the rhythm section of the WHO provided the perfect springboard for their greatness. New halftime rule: more than 50% of your band must participate to perform at halftime... and no silly substitutions with soundalikes. Attention Journey and Styx: if either of you want to have any hope-- you have to make up with Steve Perry and Dennis De Young.

More on the game, the WHO, what to watch for on TV and on the table plus my pick coming soon...