EZ The Blog

When a washed-up sports radio host has only one outlet left.

Kentucky fans, I know this hurts to relive.  But, it was the best basketball game of all time.

It’s crazy for me.  There’s only a handful of events in my life where I know where I was when that event transpired.

On March 28th, 1992, I was with my grandfather watching the Indiana high school state championship at the old Hoosier Dome (RIP) in Indianapolis.  The game didn’t start until 8pm, but we got back to the arena early to watch the game–Kentucky vs. Duke.

I remember, despite constant grumblings, they wouldn’t show the game on the jumbotron inside the stadium.  So we had to go out to the concourse.

There were more fans crammed in the concourse all the way around the dome watching the classic game than there were in the actual dome itself watching the pregame shootaround for the state’s most important annual basketball game.

It was wild, but you all know that.

My crush, Erin Andrews (and, yes, Lady EZ knows), did pretty good last night on Dancing With The Stars for Week 1.  Well, forget my opinion.  We’ll save that for later.  Let’s get to the good stuff.

Now, I caught this video online just like you probably did.  Therefore, I have no frame of reference for how show did comepared to the rest of the field.  But given my high level of expertise in dancing, I hope she continues to improve.  She will need to do so to keep advancing.

(h/t The Big Lead)

One of the reasons I’ll probably never make it big time in the sports radio biz (besides the fact that I’m not very good at it) is because I don’t “attempt” to make “shock jock” radio. Now, sometimes it can come off that way I’m sure.  But, it’s definitely not intended.

To me, though, the kind of radio that WFAN’s Mike Francesa tried to pull off yesterday is the definition of “shock jock” (I hate that term).  It’s also some of the same material that has made Francesa a household name to many across the country, especially in the Northeast.

And it’s also the kind of radio that I refuse to do, for better or worse for me personally and professionally.

No need to give it any context, and it is a bit long.  You don’t need to watch the whole thing to get the drift (although the part that really sends me over the edge is at the very end).  It gets more and more tense the further you go.

To me, it’s funny and not all that brutal, but my goodness–Rick Pitino was mad last night, and Ralph Willard may have got the brunt of it.  Steve Masiello, literally, was taken aback by it.  Make your own observations.

On my radio show, we love to play DJ Steve Porter’s “Press Hop” remix every once in awhile.  He basically takes audio-visual clips and turns them into hip hop music in most cases.  To some, his remixes are funny.  To others, it’s great music.

To me, it’s both.

Now, he’s done his own version of “Pants On The Ground” from American Idol.

Enjoy:

I show you this for a couple reasons.

1. I wanted to show you that I have sports fandom just like most of you.

and…

2. I don’t mind the embarrassment, because the Colts are in the BLEEPING SUPER BOWL!

Enjoy!

This was some pretty funny stuff.  If you ask me, it was done in fun by Coach Calipari.  But, I think John Buccigross (a.k.a. the new Jeanine Edwards) was a little stunned by what he heard.

Just when I got done singing the praises of Rick Pitino’s team on the road this season, they go and lay an absolute egg up in Newark against Seton Hall.

And, yes, I know Louisville may have been screwed royally on this play late in the game:

And even though the team is a very mediocre 3-3 in the Big East Conference (and just seven wins away from the NCAAs according to Pitino), the Cardinals are fourth in the Big East when it comes to point-per-possession offense and defense.

This from the smart folks at BasketballProspectus.com:

                      Pace    PPP   Opp. PPP    EM
1.  West Virginia     64.4    1.13    0.99    +0.14
2.  Pitt              65.2    1.11    0.99    +0.12
3.  Villanova         71.7    1.18    1.06    +0.12
4.  Louisville        68.7    1.14    1.03    +0.11
5.  Syracuse          71.6    1.10    0.99    +0.11
6.  Marquette         62.9    1.16    1.07    +0.09
7.  Georgetown        64.4    1.10    1.02    +0.08
8.  Connecticut       69.8    1.00    0.98    +0.02
9.  Cincinnati        66.6    0.98    0.99    -0.01
10. St. John's        65.4    0.93    0.95    -0.02
11. Notre Dame        66.5    1.09    1.12    -0.03
12. Providence        72.5    1.05    1.10    -0.05
13. Seton Hall        71.1    1.03    1.10    -0.07
14. S. Florida        68.0    0.92    1.06    -0.14
15. Rutgers           71.0    0.90    1.12    -0.22
16. DePaul            65.8    0.86    1.15    -0.29

So, what are we to make of this?

Maybe those stats are padded by the big wins over South Florida and Providence.  Or, maybe Cards fans (well, most some) are getting too frustrated too fast.

Either way, things better start changing… and soon.

(h/t @EamonnBrennan)

Live from the you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up department:

Recording artist Prince, a lifelong Minnesota Vikings fan, decided it was time to make his own Vikings song.  It was unveiled on the local news this week and everything.

Colts fans, be happy that Prince doesn’t root for you (thanks to The Big Lead for the tip):

The spincycle got a nice little run at the Yum Center Wednesday during Louisville head men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino’s standard day-before-the-game press conference.

Pitino said that his team’s goal is to make it to 10 conference victories (video of the presser, thanks to the Courier-Journal, is below).

I got news for Pitino.  Ten wins ain’t gonna cut it.  But that’s probably not news to Pitino.  He’s HAS to know that’s not enough, right?

The table to the right is Ken Pomeroy’s (KenPom.com) projection for Louisville the rest of the way which also predicts an eight-loss Big East slate.  The projections also show one win over ANYONE IN THE TOP 40 CURRENTLY–a home win over Georgetown (white suit optional).

This is NOT a NCAA Tournament-worthy resume.

Now, it probably won’t go like this.  No Rick Pitino-coached team ever does the predictable.

But take a look again at that remaining schedule–slice it however you want–and tell me how the Cardinals get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large with just 10 Big East victories (and an 18-12 regular season mark).  They’d have to get to the championship game of the conference tournament to have a shot.

Watch Pitino here: