The Big East is Just That Good

Notre Dame basketball had high expectations from everybody this season. They were supposed to compete for the Big East Title and roll through the regular season. With arguably the nations best player, Luke Harangody returning and other standouts like sharpshooter Kyle McAlarney and Troy Jackson this team is struggling during the most important part of the season.

The Irish are on a 6 game losing streak. But to be fair, their schedule has been one of the hardest in the nation. During the losing streak, they have lost to numerous ranked teams such as Uconn, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Louisville, and Syracuse. The other loss came most recently against Big East rival Cincinnati.

I'm not making excuses for their recent poor play because good teams are supposed to beat other good teams, and they have not been doing that. But this team is still a threat. Once they get going again, they should be an elite team. Their record is an example of just how talented the teams in the Big East are. They currently have 4 teams in the top 10, including the #1 team, Uconn. So don't forget about the Irish, because this team has the ability to compete with anybody. People need to start realizing that the ACC is not the best conference in college hoops and for the past few years it has been the Big East.

If you're interested in watching some of these teams in action, Seton Hall plays St. Johns at the Prudential Center tonight. The game is on ESPN2 at 9:00. Players to watch are Jeremy Hazell for SHU, the second leading scorer in the Big East behind Harangody, and Paris Horne for the Red Storm who is averaging over 16ppg. The Big East is so fun to watch because any team is capable of beating another team on any given night.

NBA Lottery Odds and Mock Draft Generator

ESPN is back with another gadget to satisfy our projections need with the NBA Mock Draft/Lottery Odds Generator. It basically gives you a random project of how the NBA Lottery will be drawn out and you can shuffle and randomize the odds as many times as you like. The lottery odds come with a mock draft so it also shows you who your team would draft in that spot. I'm particularly excited to see Stephon Curry being projected in the top 5 and can sit around for hours looking at all of the different possibilities. Maybe, I have too much time on my hands.

Buster Onley Around the Majors Now Insider

Say it ain't so. In Buster Olney's blog, it is now necessary to be an Insider to read Buster's Around the Majors Report. In this report, Olney gives quick notes and links about most of the teams around the league. It is extremely informative and gives a great recap of what's going on around the league. However, now you must have ESPN Insider access to read this part of the blog. And this is more often than not, the best part of the blog and exactly why I make a daily stop to see what Olney has written.

I have Insider and therefore am largely unaffected, however it is bad news for many people who are loyal Buster Olney readers throughout the country. I hope they fix this soon, because people are being deprived of great reading so ESPN can pimp their Insider features and try to get some more subsciptions.

New ESPN Beta ... Why?

ESPN is preparing to launch it's new interface and is giving Insider members a first-look at the new-look site. From what I can see, the site is substantially better looking. It is sharper and very sleek and cool on the outset. Also, ESPN is pushing their myESPN facet very hard, urging you to personalize the content from your favorite teams, players, and writers. But, they've always had that, we'll see if it makes that much of a difference now. And I'm not sure that the new look brings much more than just that, a new, fresh look. The pictures and videos are larger and look fantastic. However, there is much less information on the front page, something I'm certainly not excited for and the other sports pages are exactly the same. The preview is above, what does everybody else think?

Update from reader, Rob:
One very important thing is that it loads way faster then any previous version of the front page. The design and engineering group did a great job in making it load fast while also providing a great deal of content.

OJ Sentenced

I just watched the OJ Simpson sentencing live on ESPNNEWS. OJ was choked up as he made his closing statements, in which he apologized for his actions, and claimed he didn't have the intention of hurting anyone. But the judge had little sympathy for OJs statements, and sentenced him to 18 years in prison. OJ will be eligible for parole in 5 years

This trial almost felt like a "makeup", for OJ's last trial. Nevertheless, the man was clearly guilty, and its good to see the American justice system working properly. Nobody is above the law, and OJ will have to learn that the hard way.

UPDATE: Apparently, the judge's decision was so confusing that ESPN misinterpreted the sentence. OJ was actually sentenced to 33 years in prison, with parole eligibility in 9 years. So basically, OJ will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars. But hey, think about all of the money hes gonna save on green fees

My ESPN debut

Yesterday was one of the best, and one of the most surreal days of my life. After weeks of anticipation, I woke up at 7am and began applying my blue and gold body paint. I quickly downed a few beers, and sprinted to the Daskalakis Athletic Center wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and about 5 pounds of body paint. When we entered the DAC, other die hard fans ushered us to the front row behind the basket, and told us to make sure the crowd got behind us.

The atmosphere was electric. I've been to the majority of Drexel's home games, but I had never seen anything like this. Within the first 10 minutes of the first half my voice was completely gone. Throught the game, I got numerous text messages and calls from people saying that they just saw me on ESPN. Unbelievable. And as for the game itself, we couldn't have asked for better. Despite Drexel's defensive dominance, we allowed Penn to come all the way back from a 15 point deficit and tie it midway through the second half. But Drexel never looked back after that, en route to tight 66-64 victory.

At halftime, a man approached me and asked what time we woke up to apply the body paint. I was a little confused as to why this man was asking me such a question, but I reluctantly answered. I later found out that this man was an ESPN.com reporter, and he wanted to use my quote for an online article. Just hours after the game, I logged onto ESPN.com and found this. Here is a short excerpt:

A 10 a.m. start time requires a lot of adjustments. Just ask those four Drexel students behind the basket what time they had to get up to apply their blue and gold "ESPN" body paint.

"Around 6:30 a.m.," said one wearily. "6:30, 7 o'clock, sometime like that."

What a day!! I got interviewed by ESPN, painted my entire body blue and gold, lost my voice, was shown on national TV, and watched Drexel dominate Penn all before noon. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Are These Guys Really NEXT?

ESPN the Mag's NEXT issue is on shelves soon and they've rolled out their annual big four for us all to debate over. Every year, they seem to get the top obvious two right and then pitch two reaches on you. Then they choose their top guy (or girl) and give him the cover. This year is no different.

In years past, they have chosen some bonafide superstars as NEXT, which in some cases wasn't difficult to see. There are always the second-tier NEXT-ers who have varied in fame from Star to Nobody, but I'm just looking at cover guys for this quick recap. NEXT started off in 1998 with the two spot-on choices of Alex Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant. A-Rod and Kobe are both arguably the marquee players in their sport and made NEXT look real good right off the bat. Kordell Stewart also got on it, but ESPN is trying to get everyone to forget that. In '99 Randy Moss and Keith Van Horn shared the cover, you can see how that one turned out. Then in the following years, Vince Carter ('00), Yao Ming ('01) and Brian Urlacher ('02) became solid choices who all are leading great careers with various shades of superstar status and production.

The came '03, where LeBron James was the easiest NEXT choice that there will ever be. He is a Super-Mega-Ulta Star who may be the NEXT-best ever. Then, they coupled that with the worst NEXT selection ever in, you guessed it, Kaz Mazui! This one is a terrible, terrible miss. Kaz couldn't be less ordinary in every way. He plays good defense but that hardly makes you NEXT. Anywho, Adrian Peterson, a certifiable stud, brought it back in '05, but Reggie Bush ('06) isn't producing up to the off the charts potential he so often showed at USC. Dwight Howard ('07) has been an absolute monster and should make the NEXT crew at ESPN look real smart for years to come. Then, Joba Chamberlain to follow in '08, who is looking like he rode the Yankee hype machine straight to the cover.

So if recent history repeats itself, the '09 NEXT should be spot on. So here's my rundown of the participants:

• David Price: This fireballin' lefty exploded on the MLB scene this October by shutting down the all-mighty Red Sox and gaining national attention in the process. The former #1 draft pick has exceeded all expectations by blazing an almost immediate trail to the bigs and mowing down nearly every hitter in his way. Couple his dominant fastball with a power slider and other plus off speed stuff and Price should be a great frontline starter for years to come. Right now, Price is riding the hype machine hard and all indications point to him not disappointing. Other possible MLB NEXT-ers are Jay Bruce and Tim Lincecum, but Price is the best choice. Bruce isn't exciting enough nationally and Lincecum has already accomplished a ton. Price gets the ever-important (or not) Mike seal of NEXT approval.


• Matt Ryan: Ryan is already front-runner for the Rookie of the Year and we're only half way through the season. First round QB's are so often busts that Matty Ice is a tremendous breath of fresh air. The Falcons are fun to watch and surprising everyone, who saw this coming?!? Ryan is poised in the pocket and throws a beautiful deep ball. He deserves this NEXT and at this moment looks more than ready to make good on his selection. Another NFL worthy NEXT would be San Fran's Patrick Willis who is a MON-star LB, who led the NFL in tackles last year as a rookie. He's long been a Cheap Seats favorite, but you wouldn't know that because we only started so recently ago.


• Joey Logano: I don't waste time talking Nascar. It's not my style.


• Ricky Rubio: I've been intersted in this guy ever since I heard he could be the next Pistol Pete Maravich. "The Pistol" was the only of his kind, so to be compared mentioned together in the same breath, must say something about Rubio. He'll never be Maravich because he lacks the pure shooting, but Rubio is a dynamic playmaker who'll be wow-ing crowds in an NBA city near you. Also, Rubio managed to shine on a Spain team with many NBA caliber players in Rudy Fernandez (a fantastic rookie with the Blazers), Pau Gasol (the Lakers star PF), Marc Gasol (a young Grizzly - I think - with wild potential) and great Raptors PG Jose Calderon.

When it comes down to it, I've got to endorse Matt Ryan as the next ESPN NEXT cover guy. He's already showing the key intangibles to be a great QB and is leading an average Falcons team to the contending season that they never saw coming. Also, he shares the name of Cheap Seats Founder Matt (Ryan). That has to stand for something. What kind of self-respecting blog would we be if we couldn't support someone who's practically our own!? In Matty Ice we trust!