Good Readin'

Whose idea was the yams? And -- by show of forks here -- can we consider this person a third-time offender of baseball's steroids policy? Does anybody really like yams? Turkey? Check. Stuffing? Double check. Mashed potatoes? Cool except for the carbs. Gravy? Duh. But yams? Aside from a little color on the plate to keep Martha Stewart from squawking, they serve no purpose. That got us to thinking about sports on TV this Thanksgiving weekend. We've looked out for you, the couch potato, and we found too many yams. San Francisco-Tennessee in the NFL? South Florida-Connecticut in college football? IPFW-Michigan State in college hoops? Yam. Yam. Yam. We don't even get Notre Dame-USC this year. Instead, the Irish are playing Stanford, which lost to UC Davis, which ... well, it isn't good. But fear not. There's a little turkey amidst the yams. For your viewing pleasure, we find it.

       Nashville Predators vs. Boston Bruins
       Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics
       Noon ET, 7:30 p.m. ET - Friday
 
We love this tradition: a TD Banknorth Garden twin bill the day after Thanksgiving. Too bad the hometown teams are playing like such turkeys. The particulars: The under-.500 Bruins host streaking Philly at high noon. The Flyers' Joni Pitkanen won the first one in OT. Then, about five hours after that ends, the under-.500 Celtics host the under-.500 Hornets. In case you like to play hunches and are in Nevada, here's one: The last two times the teams have done this, they split. So depending on what the Bruins do ... not that we condone that sort of thing.

Okay, so above is ESPN's 'Thanksgiving Viewers' Menu.' I have deleted the 'Starters' (games like Cavs/Pacers, Lakers/Sonics, etc.) and the 'Desserts' (Giants/Seahawks, Steelers/Colts, etc.) and left just the important 'Main Course.'  First of all, I completely understand writers make mistakes.  For God's sake, my local newspaper (The Janesville Gazette) is full of mistakes every single time I pick it up...which isn't often by the way.  So when I see a mistake online in an article I don't think much about it.  It happens.  People make mistakes.  This mistake from ESPN.com completely blows me away. 

The NHL's Nashville Predators were to play the Boston Bruins at noon ET Friday.  Exciting stuff, let me tell you.  Following that, five hours later, at the Garden was to be the Milwaukee Bucks taking on the Boston Celtics.  Check out the logo's of the teams playing each other.  That's not the Bucks logo; that's the Charlotte Bobcats logo.  Okay, one mistake.  No biggie.  Now read the paragraph talking about the game.  It says the Celtics are playing the Hornets.  The Hornets are located in NEW ORLEANS, NOT CHARLOTTE.  (Actually, the Hornet's are playing in Oklahoma City this year because of the Hurricane a couple months back but I'll let that slide.)

So that's two mistakes in one little paragraph.  Congratulations ESPN.com.  That's officially pathetic.

--  Okay, onto another topic.  I love Dick Vitale.  Always have.  His enthusiasm to me is great.  Makes college hoops that much better.  Tonight was the Final of the preseason NIT tournament from Madison Square Garden.  Great game by the way with Duke pulling it out at the end.  People have always said Vitale tends to favor Duke because he loves everything about their program (Coach K, the Cameron Crazies, year after year in the top 5, etc).  I have never really thought much of it...until tonight. 

This was the first time I can say Vitale was blatantly in favor of the Dukies.  When Duke Freshman guard Greg Paulus made a great pass to Sheldon Williams for a hoop, Vitale went absolutely insane 'WOW, THATS INCREDIBLE BAAAAAYYYYBBBEEEE!  THIS DIAPER DANDY IS GOING TO BE SPECIAL!!!'  When Memphis guard Darius Washington would make an equally great pass for a layup all Vitale would say is 'Very nicely done, good play.'  Notice the caps and the exclamation points.  Come on Dick, call it down the middle.

 

Not Your Average Bucks

 Michael Redd is still the go-to guy in Milwaukee.

As excited as all of us were in June when we found out our Milwaukee Bucks were going to select Utah's Andrew Bogut (sarcasm), we couldn't help but think.  Jack Sikma?  Frank Brickowski?  Brad Lohaus?  Larry Krystkowiak.  Sorry, this list could be a paragraph in itself.  WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER SLOW, GANGLY WHITE BOY!

I can say I saw enough of Bogut in the past couple years while at Utah.  He completely dismantled my Sooners in the NCAA Tournament last Spring doing everything besides making the pregame dinner for his team.  He could score, pass amazingly well, defend and run the floor.  What more can you ask for?  Well, for one...how about North Carolina freshman Marvin Williams?  Talk about talent.  The sky's the limit for that guy.  I did realize we didn't need somebody like Williams.  The Bucks had good shooting guards and small forwards.  I just felt we needed somebody with a stronger presence than Bogut's.

I have been proven otherwise.  I'll admit it; I was wrong.  Is Bogut the only reason why the Bucks have started the season 4-1?  Not so much.  Trading for All-Star Jamal Magloire has helped immensely.  Signing Bobby Simmons has been helpful.  How about the return from a career-threatening spinal injury by T.J. Ford?  He was named Eastern Conference player of the week last week. 

As I've mentioned above, Bogut has been much more effective than I would ever have imagined, but adding Magloire was huge.  Some teams have an inside presence, but only one.  For example, the 76ers and Chris Webber.  One very good inside presence can be stopped (other than Shaq), but not two.  You can't leave to double team because the other will score. 

 Mo Williams celebrates after hitting the game-winning 3 to beat the Pacers Saturday night.  The Bucks overcame a 14-point fourth quarter deficit.

Do I feel the Bucks can make it to the Eastern Conference finals this year?  Not quite.  But I do see a win in the playoffs and the Bucks growing off that next year.  I haven't been this optimistic about the Bucks since the Vin Baker/Glenn Robinson years.  Thinking about those years make me think this years team is twice as good as that team was.  Two words:  Depth and defense.