Monday, April 2, 2007

National Championship Blog...


ATLANTA, GA - Just when you thought CursedCleveland.com was out, the Buckeyes pulled us back in (and by "in," we mean, we'll be doing a running diary and following that up with weeks of non-posting).

8:57 EST- It's unanimous, not one national pundit, blogger, radio host, columnist, and television camera operator thinks the Buckeyes can't win tonight. Problem is, Thad Matta's mother has a drive time radio show in Illinois.

9:06 - CBS couldn't find a spot for Gus Johnson anywhere? And as I write that, they played his historic call of the Ron Lewis' shot against Xavier.

9:09 - Billy Donovan - "You're playing for the guy next to you." He then added, "Do it for Teddy Dupay...he's got lots of money riding on this.

9:16 - Greg Oden just got whistled for his second foul. And in just a few minutes, the 2007 national title game gets underway!

9:18 - Billy Packer, "Mike Conley, he's a guard everyone dreams about." Well, to be honest, just John Amaechi...and in a few months, Richard Jefferson (Just remember where you heard it, it's the worst kept secret in America).

9:23 - Horford with a quick foul 2 minutes in, and subsequently yanked

9:29 - We're 3o minutes in Monday Night Raw, and no appearance by the freshly bald Vince Mcmahon? How is this possible?

9:34- Florida mixing up defenses like Joakim Noah mixes in a man dress from time to time.

9:37 - Great, our national championship is being besieged with touch fouls.

9:42 - Halfway through the first half, Billy Packer is only slightly grating, with shorts stints of abrasiveness. The early line was 70% irritability.

9:48 - OSU 1 of 7 from deep, they have zero chance of pulling the upset with those numbers. Also, Brewer has put the defensive clamps down on Ron Lewis. Florida is rarely doubling on the post, meaning OSU guards need to beat their guy one-on-one off the dribble. Other than Conley, it's not happening. (Florida 21- OSU 15)

9:58 - OSU 2-10 from three point range. Florida 5-7. No reason to get real technical, we knew OSU wouldn't have much of a chance if Florida was hitting from outside. Compound that with the Buckeyes' inability to hit mostly wide open looks, and it's a recipe for disaster.

10:05 - I've had 7 calls already about the officiating. To be honest, I don't think OSU has been getting shafted. Oden has had some blocks that you know could go either way. And OSU is content shooting threes. Where's the penetration?

Halftime - Florida 40 - OSU 29

10:22 - Dick Enberg's annual witty and profound piece revolved around hands. He just threw in more puns than Jim Nantz watching Carrot Top's routine (Which is still funnier than this running diary).

10:39 - Buckeyes now 2 of 14 from 3. Oden is finally dominating offensively (something we've been waiting for all season), but he's actually killing OSU defensively. I know I know, he's blocking shots galore, but look at where Florida's success is coming from - the outside, where Oden is too slow helping on the screens

10:41 - If ever there was an offense that Tony Stockman was made for, this is it. I mean, it's the national title game, OSU is dominating inside, and we're hurling up threes as if it cures cancer. Yet, every player wearing red has the absolute green light from the outside.

10:44 - Mike Conley finally remembers he's the quickest guard in college basketball and penetrates (I've done little to no research to back that up, but I'm basing it on a few tournament games).

10:51 - Not to belabor the point, but Jamar Butler is 0-4 from 3, Ron Lewis is 0-3, and Ivan Harris is 2-9.

10:54 - Humphrey's three along with two point-blank misses and a dunk by Horford...now lose balls are going to Florida (Humphrey misses a three so badly it goes right to Richard who gets an and one). Now down 14

11:00 - Hats off to Oden, he's playing his 35 year old ass off. Too bad this doesn't look like it's going to end well. (Nantz says he's had to present his birth certificate often...I run into the same problem on teen dating sites)

11:04 - Buckeyes deploy a press I haven't seen all year, and subsequently force a few turnovers. Where's Gus Johnson..?? Can we mobilize the national guard fly him in or something? I just can't see Jim Nantz calling a comeback.

11:07 - Florida getting extremely fortunate with the possessions after blocked shots. OSU needs to come up with lose balls. By the way, if you don't think Thad is getting ripped after this game about their commitment to the outside shot, then you don't know how national blogs and Skip Bayless work.

11:12 - Green hits another three. OSU is playing damn well in the second half and OSU is down 9.

11:14 - David Lighty comes into the game to play shut down defense, and instead shoots a three. Dagger.

11:18 - It's not all bad Buckeye fans, let's get ready for One Shining Moment!! How many missed threes can they throw into a three-minute song??

11:21 - Wow, Mrs. Noah was a former Ms. Sweden, apparently someone didn't age well.

11:28 - OSU ON FIRE, they've cut it to 9 with 9 seconds left!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:30 - I think Noah has lost all dancing privileges after this game, talk about killing your draft status.

11:31 - And it's over. OSU loses to Florida again. Talk about a tough pill to swallow not named "RU-486." Hey, at least we have a better recruiting class in 07, and 08. So we have that going for us. No shame in this defeat, outside of Noah, you'd have to say Florida played pretty well. They shot lights out from the outside, got every lose ball late while OSU was attempting to mount a comeback, and shot 88% from the foul line.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

So oden plays his best game of the year, and the game was still never really in doubt. Talk about outmanned and outmatched.

Anonymous said...

Hey, the Sports Guy called. He'd like you to stop using his live blog idea. He's much, much better at it.

Cursedcleveland.com said...

Yes...The Sports Guy does have the patent on running diaries. Although, truth be told, Simmons' diaries aren't actually "running" in real time, hence you not having access to his blog as he's writing them. I'd say that would be the difference.

Who are you again?

Anonymous said...

SBT, I wouldn't worry about "anonymous" 2. Your birth certificate joke and Teddy Dupay reference were hysterical. I'm still waiting for anonymous 2 to be funny, he never is!

Anonymous said...

"The Sports Guy" has nothing on "The Sports Boy"

Anonymous said...

Hilarity as usual sportsboy. "He just threw in more puns than Jim Nantz watching Carrot Top's routine," LOL

Anonymous said...

Does last night's amazing performance finally settle the argument that Oden was not "dominent" in any other game this year?

Anonymous said...

My favorite game to play at cursedcleveland.com is to try and guess how many anonymous comments on each post are actually sports boy tony. Over/Under on this page - 2.5.

Anonymous said...

check out oden's plus/minus numbers and tell me he hasn't been dominant. but certainly you guys won't take it as face value, because numbers get in the way of what you guys know in your hearts, because you played ball in high school, so you know the game! the buckeyes were very ordinary with him off the court, and the numbers back it up.

Anonymous said...

i didn't play basketball in high school and know little about the game of basketball.

Anonymous said...

I'm a pretty good defensive minded head coach on the professional level. I also date younger women.

Signed
Mike Fratello

Anonymous said...

Jason M's catch on the warning track yesterday in Chicago was one of the best I've ever seen.

Best Regards,
Rick Manning

Anonymous said...

Where have King Nick's locks of the night gone? I was able to quit my job and live off his selections but now I'm broke. Bring him back!

Anonymous said...

both football and basketball. when do I get to tea-bag brutus?

Anonymous said...

Anyone ever look at this site anymore? I heard a rumor that the owners got a big offer from a company out West to run their website and they moved. Any truth to that?

GO CAVS!

Anonymous said...

yep, nothing has happened in Cleveland sports the last few days....

Anonymous said...

updating of cursedcleveland.com has been postponed due to weather, a make-up date has yet to be announced.

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