A Battle of Two Evils

The Blue Devils against the Demon Deacons, to be more exact. No. 1 Duke travels across state to Winston-Salem where they will take on No. 4 Wake Forest tonight in this year’s Tennessee/Memphis matchup (of course there will be a few more of those games between Duke/UNC and Pitt/UConn). Last year I went with the slight underdog and took Tennessee at home. How did that pay off for me? Yup, and there’s no reason to change it. If it works, don’t mess with it. Did Jack Bauer let those FBI Agents prevent him from torturing Almeida’s associate? Hell no. And that is why I’m going to stick to my formula and not listen to my roommates who are all picking Duke. There’s actually no formula, that was a lie, but all you have to do is look at the matchup.

Sure, Duke has won ten games in a row and is one of the hottest teams in the nation, fresh off of a 85-44 smackdown over Maryland on Saturday, which, like the movie Grandma’s Boy says, “was as if Tyson fought an infant.” At one point the score was 60-20. They should get two wins for that. I still am not sold on Duke though. They do this every year; dominate during the nonconference, but then stumble a little in ACC play when they play a more athletic team. Believe me, every team they play they will have outcoached and most likely outhustle, but sometimes there are games where lack of athleticism cannot be accounted for with either.

In addition to an advantage in athleticism, I just think that Wake has more skill players. Gerald Henderson is a freak athlete; the guy could probably rest his chin on the rim, but after that, who else is there? Who can matchup with Johnson? Or Aminu? Or, most importantly, Teague. Teague took over the game against UNC like a man possessed. As I like to say he “Kobe-ed” it (in reference to Kobe’s 81 point performance where he refused to let his team lose).

And it’s not like Wake is cold. I mean they did win 16 in a row before losing to VT. Duke is like a well-oiled machine. The pressure defensively, they hustle, they shoot the ball well from outside. But Wake has answers. They are one of the tallest teams in the nation, and they are second in the nation in rebounding and field goal shooting. They may be young and inexperienced, but these Baby Deacons are growing up fast. With the home crowd on their side, they’ve pulled me there as well.

Best Idea Ever

“Excuse me, could I have everyone’s attention please? I have an urgent and breaking news update…ANNOUNCER SWAP!!!!”

How excited is everyone for this!!?? I can’t believe that ESPN did not think of this idea before now; it’s absolutely brilliant. Dan Schulman and Dick Vitale will take the Heat/Nuggets game at 9, while Mike Tirico, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson will call Davidson at Duke (7 pm). This is probably the single greatest idea that ESPN has ever had (aside from the SportsCenter commercial with Adrian Peterson) and it’s hard to say why it took this long for them to realize how great this would be. Then again, it’s one of those things that seems so simple but nobody realizes it; I mean I never would have thought of it. For all you fans (all 3 of you) of Wife Swap, this is going to put that to shame just for having a similar name. This is sheer broadcast media gold, and I am privileged to witness it. Expect Jeff Van Gundy to rigorously heckle Stephen Curry’s poor excuse for teammates throughout the game, as well as plenty of the fans, and probably some of the Duke players; really no one is safe. Titillating. Also, you will witness Dickie V pee his pants over D-Wade once again; it’s only a shame that ‘Melo had to get injured otherwise it would have been one hell of a reunion. Superb-ia.

Back to the Wife Swap reference; I wouldn’t be surprised if ABC developed this idea into a weekly television show to take the place of Wife Swap. Imagine every Friday night at 8, you turn on your TV to tune into one of the following: Al Michaels and John Madden calling a Sox-Yanks game; Keith Jackson screaming “Whoa, Nelly!” as he covers the World’s Strongest Man; Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, and Bill Raftery giving superior insight to the World Figure Skating Championships; Gus Johnson saying how awesome every player on the field is during a BCS bowl game; Joe Buck and Troy Aikman giving commentary for an NHL game…oooh, disregard that last one, I may have gone a little too far. But seriously, that would such an awesome idea and would make for the best Friday nights ABC has seen since the TGIF days with Boy Meets World. I know that I would never have another Friday night with nothing to do. Your welcome ABC, I’ll take my payment in cash. For one thing, I know that it would keep my mind off the Celtics. God help us. Or the new ESPN. com format. Anyone else out there not a fan?

*Note: These last few weeks have been rough for various personal reasons (not gonna lie, one of those being laziness). But that doesn’t matter, what I’m trying to say is that posts are going to start coming at you rapid fire, with All-Americans predictions, conference winner predictions, and stuff like that. So be ready! Out.