Kids, if you missed it, check out my thoughts from President's Day in "Daytona, Dead Presidents, Presidents & The Beginning of Judgment."

On the Plate … 2/24/05

Suspending Myself...

...from reality

The Cats, ladies and gentlemen, are about to go Dancing. And I'm in shock. I don't have the words now nor do I necessarily need them. You all should know the deal by now. I also don't want to get too nutty before the regular season officially ends. There are still three games to go. (God willing, one CSG will be in attendance on Sunday at noon at the MCI Center.) But with back-to-back wins over Pitt and Boston College at The Pavilion in the last week, my boys, more importantly, my Dad's boys, are on the cusp of doing something that they haven't done in entirely too long. (1999 to be exact.) They're about to Dance. I understand that the journey isn't over yet. Believe me, as I've said a million times, the ride with this team is never over. There is still business to be taken care of. But GD, they are close. And I have to say it feels good. It feels pretty f'ing good.

While we are on the subject of suspending oneself, let me drop a dime on John Chaney and his level of insanity. We're talking about suspension from reality, right? I don't know what is funnier: the fact that Chaney suspended himself, the use of the word "goon," or the reason for the suspension? In all seriousness, it isn't funny that a kid for St. Joe's is now hurt because Coach Chaney went "old school." But come on, at a certain level this is hilarious for the absolute "bizarre-ity" of it all. 1) Coach Chaney sent a "goon" into the game because St. Joe's was setting illegal back-picks. What?!? Read that sentence again. As crazy as it sounds, every word in that sentence is true. 2) Apparently Temple gives scholarships to goons. Goons? Say what? Temple must have a sweet-ass hockey team. 3) Has anyone ever suspended oneself in the history of anything? Is suspending yourself even possible? Apparently so. I could honestly write a book on this event. No joke. There is that much to work with.

Let's go old-school, like Coach Chaney, and round 'em up State of the Union-style…

The ACC is a GD mess. Outside of the top 3, do you think it is possible for someone to please, please, make an attempt to separate themselves from the pack? Maryland was in position to get out of the kiddie pool but decided that they liked their water warm, wet the bed, and lost to Clemson at Comcast Center on Tuesday night. (For the record, maybe the Terps aren't any good after all. See-saw this: Terps sweep Duke ; Clemson sweeps Terps. Huh?) MD, at 16-9 / 7-7, don't have to (in my opinion), but should think about, winning one of their final two games. It won't be easy. The Heels, minus Rashad McCants, come to College Park on Sunday and then the Twerps travel to Blacksburg for what could potentially be an elimination game. Never thought that would happen, did you? Speaking of V-Tech, at 14-10 / 7-6, not only are they sitting all by their lonesome in 4th place in the ACC, but they are 1 win away from being a tournament lock. 8 wins in the ACC? Good as gold. With three winnable games to go over the next 8 days - at NC State, at Clemson, Maryland at home - the Hokies are turning into the Cinderella story of the year. Time for a Seth Greenberg monument in Hokie-land? You bet. V-Tech's last win? At Miami last Saturday. The Canes, or the Kanyes, as I like to call them, are still alive and kicking at 16-9 / 7-7 due to their impressive W in Tallahassee on Tuesday. (Some things never change, do they? It was Rix's fault, I swear.) The "ACC 8-8" rule applies here too. Translation - the Canes need to beat the Yellow Jackets in Miami on Saturday or else they'll have to beat Duke in Cameron next week. Oh yea, I almost forgot…what about Georgia Tech? Seems like everyone else has forgotten the Jackets, right? Not me. I'm telling you here and now - everyone in the country is rooting against GT because no one wants to see them in their bracket. However, before we start talking brackets, the Jackets (I can rhyme like no other) need to beat Miami. If they beat the Kanyes in MIA, GT not only jumps back to .500 in the conference but they most likely eliminate the Kanyes, unless Miami can win at Cameron next Thursday. Then all GT needs to do is win one of its last two - at Wake, Clemson at home. The Clemson game is very doable. But Saturday's game is the key.

The Big East is coming into focus...in a damn good way. Nova. They're close. We've established this. Let's move on. After Georgetown loses to Nova on Sunday, the Hoyas will find themselves in the precarious position of having lost three in a row. They'll be 16-9 / 8-6. However, I firmly stand behind the notion that 7 Big East teams are going dancing, barring a major collapse. (Kind of like the mini-disaster G-town had last weekend in losing to St. John's.) After the VU game, JT III's crew still has to travel to UConn and then hosts Providence. So what? So, by my count, that puts G-town at 17-10 / 9-7. And? That's not a collapse. It's close, but it is still 9-7 in the ferocious Big East. Time to dance. Speaking of folks that like to dance, how about them Irish? At 16-8 / 8-6 with a slew of strong W's under their belt, the Irish control their own fate. They have three games left at home - UCLA, Rutgers, Pitt. The game that matters? UCLA. Why? Because a ND win eliminates UCLA from the bubble. Period. One more spot for the good guys, aka anyone but the Pac 10. Actually, the Rutgers game is equally important because it will guarantee the Irish an above-.500 conference record. Win them both and the Irish can get their jig on.

Whew. That was hefty. Time to take a break.

Big 10, Big 12, C-USA, SEC and Pac-10 on the way...I promise.

P.S. Keep the faith Dores fans. There may be light at the end of the tunnel after all. Just root against Mississippi State, and pray that the Dores win out.