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05 March 2010
FWP (Fearless Weekend Predictions) is a (hopefully) weekly post that we used to run at our old site every Friday after college football season. It gives one of your favorite StadiumDrives writers a chance to look into the crystal ball, or the bottom of a beer bottle, to see what the forthcoming weekend holds. It's also another post that will utilize the efficiency of bullet points. As always, please take all picks as novelty and do not gamble your rent check on them, unless you feel really strongly about a certain one.
Everyone has seen it by now. Brittney Griner, a basketball player for Baylor, took a swing at an opposing player for Texas Tech the other night. The punch led PTI, Around the Horn and SportsCenter last night. People are up in arms about it. It's a big story. The #1 freshman (freshwoman?) in the country did her best Laila Ali (the only female boxer I can think of off the top of my head) on the basketball court the other night, so it's a juicy story. Can you think of another incident from women's basketball this interesting all year? Of course you can't. The sport is being dominated by one team and is incredibly boring. I am not one for violence, but women's basketball needed something like this to happen. People are actually talking about women's basketball! That doesn't happen! Should Griner be suspended? Of course she should. The two game suspension she's already been handed is plenty, though. Griner's actions shouldn't be condoned by any stretch, but the NCAA shouldn't condemn her forever either. She put women's basketball, albeit briefly, in the national media landscape. And that is not an easy thing to do.
Now that I've pissed everyone off, let's take a look at what the weekend has in store...
Patrick Patterson will play his last game at Rupp Arena. Patterson gets a lot of credit for sticking around this year, and probably deserves more. After two tumultuous years with Billy Gillispie, he could have bolted for the NBA and the millions of dollars it offers. Patterson saw the talent coming in to Kentucky with Coach Calipari and decided to stay. Even when he has been overshadowed by UK's heralded freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins this season, Patterson kept playing hard. It would have been easy for him to give up, but he wants to win. Even if his stats aren't what they were last year, he is the rock and leader of this UK team. And for you morons that don't think he should be involved in Senior Day festivities, he's going to graduate in May. Don't you have to be a senior if you're about to graduate? Yes, yes you do.- NFL teams will start making stupid decisions. It feels like the Super Bowl just ended, but football talk is on the forefront again. Free agency started at midnight and already teams are paying too much money for mediocre players. The Lions signed Nate Burleson to a $25 million dollar contract! Then again, they are the Detroit Lions. And, Nate Burleson is a wide receiver. Did Matt Millen somehow sneak back in their front office?
- Spring training games will get into full swing. Games in Arizona and Floalskndvciopnpqiu h84 . Sorry, I fell asleep at the keyboard just talking about spring training baseball.
- North Carolina, Purdue and Tennessee will all lose on the road. I'm sure I won't be getting a gift basket from Bru, Gage or Grubby for those picks. Carolina and its starting five of all PFs won't be able to handle the emotion of Cameron Indoor, especially when the Duke nerds realize this is their last chance this semester to be out past 10PM. Purdue is a team reeling after the loss of Robbie Hummel and plays a Penn State team that almost came back to beat Michigan State last night. Tennessee travels to Starkville and has to play a Mississippi State team that desperately needs a win after losing on Wednesday night to Auburn. Plus, it will be Jarvis Varna(r)do's last regular season game after 12 years of eligibility.
People will watch the Oscars? Do people watch the Oscars? I sure as hell don't. Of course, the Oscars give out awards to movies from the last year. The last movie I saw in a theater was Burn After Reading in September of 2008. It was a hell of a movie. I'm not going back to the movies unless it's with some hot girl, someone like Maggie Gyllenhaal (nominated as Best Supporting Actress for Crazy Heart). Without seeing any of the movies, I'll pick Up in the Air as Best Picture, Jeff Bridges as Best Actor and that weird looking woman from Preciousas Best Actress. Also, Maggie Gyllenhaal, call me if you need a date on Sunday night.- Florida will not get the win it needs to ensure an NCAA Tournament berth. Florida is struggling right now. They've lost two in a row coming into Sunday's game against the Cats. At 20-10, they are squarely on the bubble. A win over UK would guarantee them a spot, but that won't happen. They will likely need to win a game or two in the SEC Tournament to get into the Big Dance. If they lose in the first round of the SEC, it would be tough for the NCAA Committee to take a team that has lost four in a row. I expect UK to come out a little flat after the emotion of Senior Day, but they should have no problem with the Gators in the second half. What the hell, UK 89 Florida 75.
