How about a conference making a decision that keeps one of their teams out of the NCAA Tournament? The University of Buffalo Bulls have been put in a tough spot by the Mid American Conference. The Bulls have an RPI in the 30’s but it could be even better. Buffalo lost at Kent State in a very close game where the officiating was questionable. For that game at Kent State the MAC refs assigned to the game included two former Kent State basketball captains. No wonder they got the calls. A win there may have pushed U-Buff over the top for an at large berth but it is dicey right now, they need a big conference tourney after their loss at Ohio U last Wednesday night.

In researching game matchups you always discover oddities that really aren’t much in the way of handicapping factors, but are still interesting. Such has been the case in doing our conference tournament research. Providence has a kid named Randall Hanke, a freshman who is becoming a force around the basket. Unlike so many of his cohorts from poverty-stricken or just plain old hardscrabble environments, Hanke is a kid of incredible privilege. A Park Avenue product, his family made their money in investment banking and now produce plays in New York and London. Hanke prepped at an exclusive prep school and is a scratch golfer. Not exactly the background you expect out of a college hoops player.

The Commercial Appeal in Memphis reports that local organizers guaranteed Conference USA $1,000,000 in revenue for the conference tournament at FedEx Forum this weekend. One problem, the CUSA people never signed the contract. Conference USA is apparently not turning the screws on the city, which is something that taxpayers can be grateful about.

We had a stout 17-4 (over 80%) record on our late phone service in basketball last week. If you’d like to get on board with a handicapper rounding into form for March Madness we’d love to have you join along. For $249 you get all the conference tournament, NIT, NCAA, and NBA selections through April 7th. Check our free hotline for more information at 770-618-8700 or just call the office at 770-649-1078.

How in the world does Jim Gray, of all people, get a star on Hollywood Boulevard? The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth had a rather entertaining takedown of Gray, the $15,000 fee to be granted a star, etc. in last Sunday’s paper and it is a pretty humorous read at http://www.dailynews.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,200%257E23149%257E2735798,00.html . We’ll be waiting for the rebuttal from Kobe Bryant.

Those disgusted with drugs in horse racing will enjoy this. In Southern California any horse trainer with an entry that tests positive for a banned substance has to house his horses in a monitored quarantine barn for 24 hours before they run. Since he got caught “milkshaking” a horse Jeff Mullins, a 34% trainer for long stretches of 2003 and 2004, is only 2 for 28 with his horses coming out of the quarantine barn. Could baseball and horse racing both be getting serious about illegal drugs at the same time? More information is available from Andrew Beyer both at the web sites of the Washington Post and the Daily Racing Form.

Speaking of the Washington Post, the simmering feud between the newspaper and the Washington Redskins reached critical mass with the Redskins revoking 267 of the 279 season tickets held by the newspaper. The Redskins claim the Post tickets were frequently being scalped on Ebay and elsewhere, a situation that the Post claims to have no knowledge of. Marco Rivera has done a nice job protecting Brett Favre over the years, but you’ve got to question the Cowboys giving him a $9 million signing bonus. Rivera is 32 years old and guard is traditionally a “short money” position. This smacks of Parcells following the route taken by Mike Ditka with the Saints. “I’m outta here in a year or two anywho, so damn the salary cap implications.”

In reporting on the anti-terror demonstrations in Iraq last week, The Associated Press reported, “The protesters held the impromptu demonstration on front of the clinic, chanting "No to terrorism!" and "No to Baptism and Wahhabism!" No to Baptism? What will they attack next, matrimony? The demonstrators were, of course, chanting “No to Baathism.” This is not to suggest that mistakes aren’t made here, but that struck me as being rather humorous.
Kind of silly to have a free writeup, with the matchups changing so quickly in these conference tournaments, for free plays you’re welcome to call our free hotline. If you’ve been calling 1-770-618-8700 you know that on many days our free telephone hotline has no advertising. Our hotline is an old-fashioned “comp phone” that you can call every game day for a free 24-hour recorded message. Win or lose, you’ll get some good information on the teams and learn something in the process. Both the team and the big picture knowledge is something you can take into the future, win or lose, so make the call to 1-770-618-8700 part of your regular routine.

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