Transaction Wire
- Bobcats sign Matt Carroll. Carroll had been leading the NBDL with 20.1 PPG, and was the NBDL player of the month for January.
- The Bears will assign Nick Setta to an NFL Europe team in March.
- Jerome Collins, Mike Goolsby, Justin Tuck, and Ryan Grant were invited to the NFL Combine which started Wednesday and lasts until March 1.
- Raiders allegedly will trade Napoleon Harris and draft picks to Minnesota for Randy Moss. Hoorah for the malcontents.
- Jerry Jones signs Drew Bledsoe. Hey, it doesn't take that much talent to take a snap and hand off to Julius.
- Calgary Stampeders name Bill Diedrick QB/RB coach. I'll let you form your own opinions on the press release.
- Indians sign Darren Bragg to a minor league deal. I'm not sure, but I think Bragg started his career before Darrin Bragg was even born.
- Nationals sign Carlos Baerga to a minor league deal.
Bubble Watch
Men: As you know, the magic number for the men is 34 - that's the number of at-large teams that make the tournament. As of Sunday night, the Irish had an RPI of 39. Of the 38 teams ahead of the Irish, 16 lead their division. That gives the Irish a theoretical "bubble magic number" of 23. Barring any major collapse, I would think that's good enough to dance into a 7-8-9 seed.
Women: Nothing to worry about here. A loss to Rutgers dropped them to #10 in both polls. But, the 12th toughest schedule gives them an RPI of 5, one ahead of tOSU. Look for a 2 seed for the "Lady Irish."
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Is Nascar turning into the WWE with its sponsorships? Darryl Waltrip was on SportsCenter recently, and it named him as the Nextel Cup Champion in '82, '83, and '85. But wait... it wasn't called the Nextel Cup back then.
- Thanks to the two pieces of "fan mail" I recently received. One shared my admiration of Brian Brennan. The other asked about the Kim Dunbar that works for DavidGivens87.com. I looked into it, and it turns out Givens' site is made by Paid, Inc., a Massachusetts company that, among other things, makes personal websites for athletes. (Check out TroyBrown80.com, KevinFaulk33.com, and MattLight72.com among others). Dunbar writes for all of these sites, so I'm not sure whether or not this is the same Kim Dunbar.
- So, I was in the ND Bookstore this past weekend, and do you believe they sell video games now?
- Speaking of ND, the McDonalds High School All-American Game, featuring ND recruit Luke Zeller, will be played at the Joyce Center March 30. Who's with me? There's even a special event at Bethel College on the 28th as part of the festivities. Bethel's such a nice school.
- Link of the week #1: If you're ever wondering what the current Bones are up to, check out these videos taken by current GradAss Matt Merten. I will warn you, though, that "Bones Love Nature" prominently features F-Bomb being F-Bomb.
- Link of the week #2: Apparently, there's this site called The Face Book, where you enter your information and list your friends who are also a part of the Face Book. And they list their friends, etc. Originally, I thought it was only for current ND students, but apparently alumni can join as well. Here's why Ellen has join: not only is it a blatant "your face" reference, but there's also a group called "The DJ Fitzpatrick Fan Club." I swear I'm not making this up. (Hat tip to Andy for pointing this out to me.)
- Link of the week #3: For all you liberal democrat ND sports fans out there, here's Musings of a Domer.
- Wrasslin' Rambling #1: Dave, it's too bad your brother is abroad this semester. Otherwise, he could have warned us that Mick Foley was coming to ND on February 17 to talk. You could have gone up to him afterwards and told him that you, too, come from "the city of Long Island."
- Wrasslin' Rambling #2: Chyna (or, Chyna Doll, as she is now known to avoid legal prosecution from the WWE) is on this season's "Surreal Life." In the next episode that's coming up, her boyfriend shows up and they get in a fight. Now, do you remember who her boyfriend is? That's right, it's none other than X-Pac. I'm not even making this up.
AL East preview coming later this week.
