Not So 'Gentle' After All

Let's add a little scandal to this year's American Idol why don't we?

The hit talent show opened up its Wednesday night performances with the news that Jermaine Jones was disqualified. The guy who became known as the "gentle giant" was apparently not so gentle in his past. According to TMZ, Jones was arrested in March of 2011 after getting into a fight at a hotel. When talking to police, he gave them a fake name, Joel Jones, and was subsequently charged for public nuisance, obstruction of justice, and outstanding warrants.

But Jermaine wasn't done yet. In another incident in November, a car he was riding in was pulled over. When questioned by police, Jones gave them the name Kareem Watkins and was, once again, arrested for hindering apprehension, giving false information to avoid self-discovery, and outstanding warrants (again)!

Idol sources told TMZ that Jones was very aggressive behind the scenes; going as far as yelling at a staff member because he didn't like his wardrobe. TMZ also reported that, when questioned by the show's risk management team before getting into the Top 24, Jones "swore he had never gotten into a fight since high school."

Well, it looks like the cat's out of the bag now and Jermaine just lost the best musical opportunity of his life!

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2012 Bracketology

It's that time again for March Madness! I'll probably be doing the most brackets I've ever done this year so, hopefully, I'll do well on at least one of them! So far, it's looking like I'll have a personal bracket to see how I stack up with the nation and a couple group brackets with some friends. That said, here are some of my picks for this year's tourney!

Second And Third Rounds
I'll start with the Second/Third Rounds as the First Four round will probably be uneventful. I don't have too many upsets, however, there are some games to watch out for.

• Iowa State vs. UConn: Although Iowa State is ranked higher than the Huskies, this is still an upset of sorts for me since UConn comes in as the defending champ. It'll be close but I think the Cyclones could take care of the Huskies in the Second Round.
• VCU vs. Wichita State: I'm a big fan of Shaka Smart and his coaching style, especially come tourney time. I don't think the Rams will have enough to make it all the way to the Final Four like last year but I do think they can beat the Shockers in the Second Round.
• Xavier vs. Notre Dame: This could be one I pay for in my bracket but I honestly think the Musketeers have what it takes to beat the Irish in the 7/10 matchup in the South.
• Virginia vs. Florida: This will be an interesting game to watch in the West. It could also be another one I pay for dearly on my bracket. Although they struggled down the stretch, I think Tony Bennett's team is no joke and they'll get to the next round.
• NC State vs. San Diego State: After being the last team announced on Selection Sunday, I think the Pack are going to upset the Aztecs. Although State struggled somewhat throughout the season, they had a strong showing in the ACC Tourney. If they play like they did in the ACC Tourney, they could go pretty far.
• Belmont vs. Georgetown: Last but not least, I think this will probably be the biggest upset in the tourney this year. The Hoyas do fairly well come tourney time but haven't been as good this year as in the past. Belmont, on the other hand, seems to really do well come tourney time. Let's also keep in mind that this Belmont team lost by only 1 point to Duke at Cameron. They'll be ready to go for this game!

Sweet Sixteen
You may be surprised at some of my picks for this round.

• In the South, I have a rematch of Kentucky and Indiana. I also have Baylor facing Duke.
• In the West, I have Michigan State taking on New Mexico. In the other matchup, I have Frank Haith's Missouri team playing against, yes, Murray State. I think the Racers' 30-1 record is no fluke and they will beat Marquette to play the Tigers in the Sweet Sixteen.
• In the East, I think Syracuse will make it to the Sweet Sixteen pretty easily, facing Wisconsin* in an intriguing matchup. I also have Ohio State facing Florida State in the other game. If the 'Noles can play like they did in the ACC Tourney, there's no doubt they'll go far.
• Finally, in the Midwest, I have Carolina getting to the Sweet 16 pretty easily as well, facing Michigan in one matchup. Then, Pack fans rejoice, I have NC State in the Sweet Sixteen facing the Kansas Jayhawks.

Elite EightLike every year, these games are really tough to pick. However, I'm pretty comfortable with who I have.

• South: Kentucky vs. Baylor
• West: Michigan State vs. Missouri
• East: Syracuse vs. Ohio State
• Midwest: UNC vs. Kansas

Final Four

Once again, it's so tough to choose at this stage of the tourney but I think Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio State*, and UNC will make it to New Orleans.

Championship Game

Why not have the two most storied programs in college basketball play for all the marbles? This would be the ultimate national title game for me and many other people I'm sure! In the end, I see the Heels getting revenge against Kentucky. The Cats are very good but very inexperienced as well. I think the battle tested Heels will prevail and win their third title in eight years!

*UPDATE: I've changed my pick from Southern Miss to Kansas State and Temple to South Florida in the Second Round. In the Sweet Sixteen in the East, I've changed Vandy to Wisconsin. Finally, with the loss of Fab Melo, I'm a little nervous about the 'Cuse getting into the Final Four. I may pay for it later but I've put Ohio State in New Orleans.

Click on the bracket below to check out all of my picks!

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Move On

I knew Twitter and Facebook would light up after the "no call" during Kendall Marshall's game winning drive to propel Carolina to the 69-67 win against NC State. However, hearing about the same thing for eight hours straight after the game is ridiculous (and annoying). Sure, it's quite alright to complain for some amount of time but whining about it now is neither going to change the outcome nor improve the look of Wolfpack fans on the college basketball world.

Here's how I saw everything from a non-biased, basketball point of view. The "no call" on Marshall's drive was right. If anything had been called it would have been a blocking foul because Alex Johnson of NC State didn't have his feet set and slid into position to defend Marshall at an angle. But some would argue Marshall lowered his shoulder when he came in contact with Johnson. Well, after viewing a replay, he actually didn't lower his shoulder nor pushed off. Plus, in late game situations like this, the officials are more than likely not going to call things like that. It's just the name of the game.

Then, there was the final desperation try by the Pack where the ball was up for grabs and NC State thought they were fouled. In that situation, the ball was being fought for with no clear possession either way. Once again, the officials are more than likely not going to call any fouls in that situation late game. Just like at the end of the Duke/FSU game that followed, players for both teams fought for the ball near the end of the game. There was a lot of contact but no foul was called either way.

The thing that really gets me upset about this is everyone has focused on the last few seconds of the game. Let's not forget, State had a 6 or 7 point lead on the Heels and they could have easily kept that lead and won had they not shot themselves in the foot thoughout the game. The Pack shot 3-11 (27.3%) from 3-point range, 12-18 (66.7%) from the free throw line, and turned the ball over 16 times; including one that led to Marshall's game winning shot. Those kind of stats are not going to make it easier for your team to win.

One writer for NBCSports.com seemed to be letting off a lot of steam in his article for the site. Rob Dauster, a writer for the CollegeBaksetballTalk section of the website made it ver clear that NC State got "hosed" by the officials. Now, I wouldn't have a problem with that. After all, it's his matter of opinion. But when that biased viewpoint is tweeted worldwide with the NBC Sports name on it, that's where I take issue. The tweet from read: "N.C. State gets hosed by refs in loss to UNC, and now might miss the NCAA tourney." As a national sports website, you are suppose to show impartiality. It seems as though NBC Sports failed miserably at doing this. I think it's okay for the writer to express his opinion on a blog post (like I'm doing here) but not on an article that is to be front and center on a sports website that is supposed to be impartial.

Listen, State will make it to the NCAA Tournament. If they don't I'll be shocked. I honestly thought they didn't even need a win today against UNC to make it. In fact, I thought they solidified that with the win against Virginia yesterday. Like my mom said, State should have played better throughout the regular season so there wouldn't be such an uproar over whether or not they would make it. All that said, people who are still whining about what happened need to grow up and move on. What happened happened and, obviously, there's nothing you can do about it! I could say a lot more but I'll leave it at that!

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Double Dose #2

After seeing a lot of success with my first Double Dose Of Oops, I decided to do another for this week: ACC Tourney style.

The officials who worked the first game of the tourney, Jamie Lucky, Mike Eades, and Bernie Clinton, decided to take it upon themselves and wear "KH" stickers on their shoes after referee, Karl Hess, announced he would not be working any of the ACC Tourney (probably the best decision he's ever made).

Hess came under fire for ejecting Chris Corchiani and Tom Gugliotta from a Feb. 18 NC State game. He was later "reprimanded" by the ACC. As a result, Hess felt his working at the tourney would be a distraction to the teams so he chose to work at the Big East Tourney instead.

Okay, how can the ACC actually not know the refs were going to wear this sticker? From reading multiple articles, it seems as though the ACC didn't even know the refs were going to wear the stickers as they quickly told other refs to remove them. It's a good thing they did because the next game was NC State and Boston College, which would have reminded fans about what happened that day.

The second oops goes to the refs themselves. I think a Yahoo! Sports article put it best: "Solidarity is always appreciated, but refs are supposed to exude a sense of impartiality. Though Lucky, Eades and Clinton weren't working an NC State game, they've contributed to a sense that all refs are against State. The action isn't as bad as the implication." The article goes onto pose the question of what would happen if a professional sports ref pulled a stunt like that? I'm sure they would be punished accordingly, which is something the ACC seems to have a hard time doing!

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Heads Or Tails?

One section of Kentucky still won't be able to buy alcohol, a decision made by a flip of a coin. The vote ended in a 21-21 tie so officials decided to flip a half-dollar. The coin landed on tails which meant the Graham precinct did not pass the resolution to allow alcohol sales.

As of now, 17 of the county's 65 precincts don't allow alcohol sales. The result was called "unprecedented" in a vote like this and I'd say so. I've never heard of a close vote being decided by a coin flip! I wonder what would happen if our presidential elections were decided like this?!?

Read the full story here.

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Seriously?

Fox News anchor, Lou Dobbs, has criticized the new Dr. Seuss movie The Lorax claiming it is pushing Pres. Obama's political agenda down the throats of America's youth. Lou, have you lost your mind?!?

In case you're reading this and you didn't know, The Lorax basically criticizes industrial progress and embraces caring for the environment. Apparently Dobbs didn't realize the book was published in 1971! Obama was just ten years old then so, if he already had a "political agenda" at that age I would be impressed! And, certainly, Dobbs is old enough to remember when the book was published. He may even be old enough to remember when Dr. Seuss was born (just kidding)!

Yes, Lou, Hollywood's "agenda" is indoctrinating children instead of making money. I mean, come on! What's on your show next week? Criticizing Obama for wearing Hanes underwear instead of Fruit of the Loom? I mean, that's how ridiculous it's become! Before I even write a review of this movie, I'm recommending everyone to go see it, just to make 'ol Dobbsy mad!

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'Idol' Bust

After seeing and hearing the semifinalists perform, I was hyped about this season. Then came Thursday night's results. Unlike last year where I liked everybody and thought they were all great, I don't think the same this season. America voted Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez, Hollie Cavanagh, Joshua Ledet, Heejun Han, Shannon Magrane, Skylar Laine, Elise Testone, Colton Dixon, and Jermaine Jones into the Top 10 and the judges chose Erika Van Pelt, Jeremy Rosado, and Deandre Brackensick as the wild cards; rounding out the Top 13. I was happy about some of them getting in but not so happy about others in the Top 13 and leaving the show.

My favorites were Eben Franckewitz, Reed Grimm, Aaron Marcellus, and Haley Johnson who, by the way, are all gone! In fact, Reed was the only one of the four given a second chance by the judges for the wild card spot. And the bad part is, per "American Idol" rules, they are ineligible to audition again because they got to the semifinals (which I think should be changed). I was not at all happy with Heejun, Deandre, and Joshua getting in the Top 13 because I, personally, thought they didn't do as well as some of the others.

First, Heejun. I appreciate his personality and sense of humor he displays but, when it comes to singing, he didn't show up this week! He sounded way off pitch and it didn't really do anything for him vocally. Next, Deandre. I would like him if he just wouldn't use his falsetto during the entire song. I would also like Joshua more if he didn't scream and have a growl-like tone in his voice on every song. I'm just not too much of a fan of people who overdo it.

Now, on to my favorites. I liked Eben from day one. For only 15 years old he has a great voice and stage presence, especially during his group song in Vegas. That said, I was worried he wouldn't get into the Top 13 based on his performance Tuesday night...

Next, Reed Grimm. He did a a jazzy, slow jam version of Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger." I thought it was really cool. I think his downfall was he sounded a lot like season ten contestant, Casey Abrams, on that song. Regardless, I thought he was awesome!

Then there's Aaron Marcellus. I honestly thought he would be a lock for the Top 13 after his performance but, once again, I was wrong! And I was shocked that the judges didn't even give him a chance to fight for a wild card spot after reacting the way they did about him.

Finally, Haley Johnson. I really started liking her when she performed that amazing group number in Vegas I was mentioning earlier with Eben, Reed, and Elise. However, her rendition of "Sweet Dreams" left something to be desired; so I'm kind of not surprised she was voted off.

So, with pretty much all my favorites gone, I have no idea who the heck I'll be pulling for (if anyone). If I had to pull for a few in the Top 13 it would be Elise Testone, Phillip Phillips, Colton Dixon, and Jeremy Rosado. But I don't even know if they'll make it far!

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