Shanoff’s Wake-Up Call: March Madness Starts Now

By Dan Shanoff
Today’s Calls: UCLA vs. Stanford, UNC/Duke vs. Conference Title Games, Rockets vs. Spurs, LeBron vs. Joakim Noah, Brett Favre vs. Jevon Kearse, Albert Pujols vs. Noah Lowry, Pat Riley vs. Kelvin Sampson, Steve Ballmer vs. Clay Bennett, Tripp Isenhour vs. the Humane Society and More!
The Opening Pitch: March Madness starts right NOW.
Small-conference title games -- the soul of the madness -- start tomorrow (Big South! Ohio Valley!).
Big conferences end their regular seasons (UNC-Duke!) and set up their own conference tournament brackets for later next week.
Regular-season titles -- to the extent those matter anymore -- are clinched (UCLA ... again!).
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And for mid-major teams without sterling nonconference resumes, it’s win-or-else time.
Some bubbles might officially be burst this weekend (Florida at Kentucky), but conference tourneys still offer a glimmer of redemption.
Selection Sunday is one weekend away. It’s time to focus on how teams finish their season, how they perform under “bracket-pressure.”
It’s time to start eyeing your Cinderellas, sizing up your sleepers ... perhaps affirming your season-long hunches as to who will win it all.
Put everything else aside -- NFL free agency, NBA winning streaks, even your MLB fantasy draft prep.
March Madness is officially here.
CBB Last Night: UCLA tops Stanford in OT in the biggest Pac-10 game of the year to win the conference regular-season title -- and do nothing to dissuade me from my season-long pick they will win the national title.
(Name to Know: Russell Westbrook. Even though Darren Collison led the Bruins with 24, Westbrook had 7 of UCLA’s 14 points in OT.)
Mid-Major Cindy Watch: Xavier. Don’t get caught riding the X-Men bandwagon after they lost last night in Philly to an inspired Saint Joseph’s, which was playing the final game in their bandbox Fieldhouse before the old building is renovated.
CBB Weekend: C-Week! UNC-Asheville vs. Winthrop in the Big South title game Saturday ... Ohio Valley: How can you root against sub-.500 Tennessee State in tonight’s semis? ....
Oh, and UNC-Duke: ACC Tournament 1-seeds? Bah! It’s all about an NCAA 1-seed and potential placement in the East region, with, essentially, home games in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. (Other big-conf reg-season finales to eye for your brackets: G’town-L’ville.)
The Rockets win their 17th straight, routing the in-state rival Mavs in Dallas (despite being out-rebounded).
How many games in a row do the Rockets have to win to be taken seriously as a contender in the West, particularly without Yao available for the playoffs? Apparently, 17 isn’t enough.
(Rockets rookie revelation Carl Landry had 17 off the bench: Landry for the NBA All-Rookie first team? I’d vote yes.)
Yao to fans in China: “I’ll see you in the Olympics.” I’m sure Rockets fans are grateful for the clarification of Yao’s priorities.
Meanwhile, the Spurs win their 11th straight. You can keep Kobe and KG; the Spurs will beat both en route to yet another NBA title ... No 50 for LeBron in Chicago (no W, either). But 20 (rebounds) for Joakim Noah.
Brett Favre cries: That was the emotional highlight of his press conference yesterday.
Even though he insisted his is “going out on top” and that he wouldn’t ever attempt a comeback, I think he thinks he can still play at an All-Pro level -- he just is choosing not to anymore.
I totally buy his disinterest in the massive prep that goes into being an NFL QB beyond “three hours on Sunday,” but I would not rule out a Favre comeback.
Tripp Isenhour wins the 2008 Vick Award for Kindness to Animals, after being criminally charged Wednesday with killing a hawk with a golf shot, becoming an instant national pariah.
I don’t know what I feel most strongly about: My mortification at his action, my skepticism at his declaration of innocence ...
...Or my certainty that if it turns out he killed that hawk on purpose, Isenhour should be banned for 2008.
Even if he hit balls at the bird in jest (perhaps not intending the deadly consequences), the alleged “I’ll get him now” quote is his ... Tripp-wire.
NFL Free Agency: Jevon Kearse (re-)joins the Titans. Tennessee presumably still recognizes him from his monster rookie year in 1999.
MLB Spring Training: For Albert Pujols, no elbow surgery (yet) ... The Giants pitching is horrendous, and they will likely be the worst team in baseball this season. Adding injury to insult, Noah Lowry needs a month off (at least) for wrist surgery.
Barry Bonds “756*” ball on display in the Hall of Fame? I say that is absolutely appropriate. For better or worse, it’s baseball history.
Bizarro NBA: Is Pat Riley really going to skip coaching Heat games in order to scout would-be draftees?
Let me save him the trouble: If Miami gets the top pick, take Michael Beasley. (2) Derrick Rose. (3) Eric Gordon. (4) Kevin Love.
Speaking of NBA coaches, there have been Kelvin Sampson sightings around the Spurs.
He is an “observer,“ which apparently puts him right in line with Pat Riley’s interest in being an NBA coach right now.
Steve Ballmer just might save the Sonics in Seattle. Sonics fans may have their Mac fanboys, but they have to be loving Microsoft right now.
CFB: Indiana suspends QB Kellen Lewis for Perrilloux-esque “violation of team rules.” Like LSU’s indefinitely suspended QB, expect Lewis back well in time for the season opener.
AAFL season in jeopardy! Regulars know I’m slightly (but let’s not get crazy: only slightly) obsessed with the All-American Football League. Turns out the league may miss the ‘08 season if they don’t get $30 million (h/t SBD). Ergo: So much for the AAFL.
The Last Word: BUCKNELL!!! Apologies for not running that yesterday.
Dan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com.
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