The Daily Take.

Booooooo!

It's a dumb word whose intent is to publicly criticize, scare someone or, as "boo-boo", indicate injury. All negative.

As such, there's too much booing in sports.

A total of 68 college basketball teams came into this week with a chance to win an NCAA championship. And 67 seasons will end in sadness. That's about 1,000 sad kids.

Maybe they're sad because they're competitors. Maybe they're graduating. Hopefully they're not regretting a mistake.

You, the fan, will be sad because you're a "true fan." And when you get worked up, you yell. Maybe your guy misses a free throw and you scream, "What's your problem?" Or maybe he misses a rebound and you wail, "Box out!" Or maybe they're messing up your precious, precious bracket.

Full Story >>

Tags:

Fans, Golf, March Madness, NCAAB

The crew from the Dan Wetzel Podcast has assembled to provide you up-to-the-minute analysis and predictions of the 2012 NCAA basketball tournament.

Stick with us throughout Thursday and Friday as Veronica Morningstone, the fake Twitter account of former Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, and "superfan" Michael Rudolph deliver their unique perspectives on college athletics. Alcohol and romance are likely to also fill the air.

Written by: @DanWetzel, @DanBeebe and @MRudolphComedy.

Full Story >>

Tags:

NCAAB

The crew from the Dan Wetzel Podcast has assembled to provide you up-to-the-minute analysis and predictions of the 2012 NCAA basketball tournament.

Written by: @DanWetzel, @DanBeebe and @MRudolphComedy.

Full Story >>

Tags:

NCAAB

The crew from the Dan Wetzel Podcast has assembled to provide you up-to-the-minute analysis and predictions of the 2012 NCAA basketball tournament.

Written by: @DanWetzel, @DanBeebe and @MRudolphComedy.

Full Story >>

Tags:

NCAAB

The crew from the Dan Wetzel Podcast has assembled to provide you up-to-the-minute analysis and predictions of the 2012 NCAA basketball tournament.

Written by: @DanWetzel, @DanBeebe and @MRudolphComedy.

Full Story >>

Tags:

Fake Dan Beebe, March Madness, NCAA Tournament, NCAAB

Usually Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports breaks NBA trade stories, but Tuesday night a huge deal was reported -- er, forecasted? -- on ESPN Mobile.

Underneath a fourth quarter score update from the Heat v. Magic game in Orlando, ESPN Mobile’s "The Lead" section informed fans of the following:

"Magic fighting back from double-digit deficit in Dwight Howard's home finale."

Is that so? Colby Wright flagged
the "report" and tweeted a screengrab. For good measure, he added the clever hashtag #hegone.

Are we to assume the All-Star Magic center is headed to the Nets before Thursday's trade deadline? Or perhaps the Amway Center will be closed for several months of renovations starting in the morning. At this point, it's hard to say.

Maybe ESPN knows something. Maybe this is an ill-timed joke. Maybe this is all just a big mistake.

Maybe we should direct-message Rob Lowe and ask him what's really going on.

Full Story >>

Tags:

Dwight Howard, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic

Peyton Manning's departure from the Indianapolis Colts sets up a rare opportunity.

For the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Broncos are wooing Manning, which could mean Tebow hits the market. Denver team president John Elway will likely want an early-round pick for Tebow.

That's a steal for the Jags.

But isn't this just a short-sighted gimmick to get fans into the seats?

It's much more than that. Jacksonville already has a strong fan base -- stronger than most non-Floridians realize. But the franchise doesn't have much of an identity. Most think of it as a team drowning in blackouts and move-to-Los-Angeles rumors -- or worse, the team that let Tom Coughlin go. Trading for Tebow changes the plot for at least a year and maybe much longer. The Jags immediately become watchable -- not just at home but nationwide.

Full Story >>

Tags:

Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, MOA, NFL, Tim Tebow

The Monday Lineup still thinks this is the worst haircut ever, right? It belongs to Buffalo Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had it shaved as part of a promise if WR Stevie Johnson was re-signed. He was, and Fitzpatrick followed through. Some promises should be broken, for the good of everyone involved.

Must Reads Of The Day
Jeff MacGregor makes the obvious point (among many) about the Saints' bounty scandal: it's a little silly to make such a big deal out of incentivizing violence when that's what the sport is all about. ESPN >>

There was a time when Lenny Cooke was the top rival for LeBron James as the two were high school stars. It's been a drastically different path for Cooke since then. New York Times >>

The Clippers feud with super fan Clipper Darrell is just another sad chapter in the saddest book of pro sports ownership. Dan Wetzel lets it rip. Yahoo! Sports >>

Homecourt is considered a huge edge in college basketball, and that goes beyond the crowd noise and the quirks of the floor. A lot of that edge may come down to the ball that is tossed to tip things off. New York Times >>

"During his first spring with the Washington Nationals, Bryce Harper answered to a different name. Bitch Boy." Well, then. Quite an opener by Jeff Passan. Stays strong as it goes. Yahoo! Sports >>

Full Story >>

The Friday Lineup is stoked for the start of MLB spring training games, mostly as a distraction from more Peyton Manning stories (he's throwing harder today than he was yesterday, WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!). Also, can you believe the Dodgers gave their batboy a tryout? Pretty cool story behind it.

Must Reads Of The Day
Chico Herrera (far right) has a baseball name. I suppose that's the half the battle, right? Anyway, the Dodgers batboy got a tryout thanks to a recommendation from pitcher Jon Garland. Big League Stew >>

An intense, descriptive piece from Jeff Passan on what Ryan Howard has gone through with his gnarly Achilles tendon tear, suffered in last year's NLDS. Yahoo! Sports >>

SB Nation's awesome YouTube programming release continues to impress. Today, Shutdown Fullback was released, starring Spencer Hall and Jason Kirk. It is quite good. Every Day Should Be Saturday >>

Another awesome spring training story about a guy that's been out of baseball for four years and is now mashing pitching as a non-roster invitee for the Braves. Atlanta Journal Constitution >>

Accelerating the learning curve for statistics and advanced metrics should come via video, argues True Hoop's Henry Abbott. ESPN >>

Full Story >>

The Thursday Lineup will not be a chat with the President of the United States. But hey, we'll link to it and give you plenty of links to read the day away after you finish. But before we start, is this ESPN headline offensive since Hines Ward is half Korean? There has been much debate. What do you think?

Must Reads Of The Day
If you haven't seen it already, Grantland's Bill Simmons sat down with President Obama to talk sports for about a half hour. It's a good listen, or read, whichever works for you. Also: jealous. Speaking with any sitting president is impressive. Grantland >>

After a damning piece was released in Sports Illustrated yesterday about UCLA basketball and head coach Ben Howland, Pat Forde says the coach has lost his way.Yahoo! Sports >>

Andrew Breitbart died, and Paul Azinger is enraged over some of the tweets he's seeing about Breitbart's passing. Deadspin has kept up with the rage, so you don't have to. Deadspin >>

The United States recorded a historic upset (of relatively minimal importance) with a 1-0 friendly win over Italy, and Martin Rogers takes a look at how Juergen Klinnsman's moves have paid off. Yahoo! Sports >>

The dudes in suits are making this college football playoff far more complicated than it needs to be, which is hardly surprising. Dan Wetzel breaks down how simple it really should be. Yahoo! Sports >>

Full Story >>