Links and Stuff

I’m feeling remarkably lazy (I’ve also been terrible about responding to emails, and hope to start doing so again by the end of the week), but it’s still been too long since I’ve updated the blog. So today I’m going for an all links and resources entry. Check out the useful and entertaining things below:

1) March is coming up, and that can only mean one thing–our nation’s employees will be trying to covertly keep track of basketball scores when they should be working. CBS is again offering March Madness On Demand for free, and pumping games directly into your office while you should be going over those expense reports. Seriously though, this is one of the greatest things out there. Sign up for the VIP pass ahead of time and reduce your wait time to access games. This isn't one of those things that someone bugged me to tell you about--it's just a good thing that's out there for you to use.

2) I’m a little late in getting this up, but you know that mock NCAA tournament selection done last week? A great exercise, and Josh Centor, Coordinator of Media Relations for the NCAA wrote about it as it was going on. It's fascinating stuff, and a great look inside the process. Check out day one and day two here.

3) For some unknown reason, I’ve never added a permanent link to it off to the side (I need to fix that one of these days), but I absolutely love the blog of former Marquette star and current Marquette radio color commentator Jim McIlvaine. Obviously the man knows his basketball, but he loves to talk about all of the inane stuff surrounding the games that really make things interesting. He just seems like the kind of guy you’d enjoy having a beer with. If you’re looking for a good place to start reading, I’ll suggest his December 5,2007 entry following the murder of NFL player Sean Taylor, in which McIlvaine remains entertaining and makes some very interesting points about being a pro athlete.

4) From the “I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried” file, former UNLV and Homestead High School star Kaspars Kambala, when faced with a 14-month by FIBA for testing positive for cocaine, decided to give up hoops and become a boxer. When I see stories like this about a guy who went to high school in the area right around the same time as me, I can’t help but recognize that my life is intensely boring. That also might not be a bad thing.

5) The McDonald’s All-American game is in Milwaukee this year, and I may or may not make it down to the game. But what I will definitely make it to is the accompanying Powerade Jam Fest two days before, where the high schoolers will engage in shooting and dunk competitions. Tickets are available here, and they’re a much better value than the game itself. Later this week or next, I’ll explain why the Jam Fest is much more worthwhile than the actual game, but for now, just rest assured that it is.

6) WIAA seedings for the boys’ basketball tournament are out, and in case you care to break them down, here are the brackets. Eventually, I’ll get around to pointing out interesting things that I see, but again, I’m being lazy today, so for the time being, just look for your own interesting storylines:

Division 1
Division 2
Division 3
Division 4

That’s all for today. I’m heading down to see UWM take on Butler tonight (it’s on ESPNU if you can’t make it) as the Panthers attempt to take back a little bit of pride from the state of Indiana after what Notre Dame and Purdue did to Marquette and Wisconsin, respectively, this weekend. A UWM win would be a nice jump start heading into the Wisconsin-Indiana game tomorrow night...