If I was a West Virginia player, I wouldn't want to show up at the next practice either.

















Yesterday, my brother and I attended the Cleveland State-West Virginia game at the Bart, expecting a laugher. But we came away with one of the most exciting college basketball games I've seen. For the Vikings had the 6th-ranked Mountaineers on the ropes. West Virginia was the champ, sitting on his stool, contemplating if he had enough to win the fight...then somehow finding a way to do just that. West Virginia wins on a layup with 1.2 seconds left to defeat the Vikings.

Cleveland State was a far different team that lost to Robert Morris on Tuesday. Robert Morris, not Bruce Drennan's friend, but the university. Cause they're stupid in Pittsburgh. Hell, they were even a far different team in the second half from what they were in the first half.

CSU was down by 17 early in the second half. It seemed this would be a long march to another defeat. The Vikings had no other option, but to press. Then a funny thing happened. It was as if the Mountaineers had never seen a press before and made mistake after mistake. Finally, CSU tied the game at 78. WVU inbounds, and CSU almost traps the guy in the corner. Then they get the ball at midcourt and almost trap the guy there. Somehow, they spotted De'Shaun Butler and he waltzed in for an uncontested layup. Game over.

So, for a half, CSU figured it out. Next up are Ohio State and Kansas State. Let's see if they learned anything.

Meal of Links

Roger Ebert releases his Best Films of 2009. He had "Knowing" and "Bad Lieutenant" on the list, making for TWO Nicolas Cage films. I saw "Knowing" and "Bad Lieutenant" arrives here in January. Locally, the Cedar-Lee and Capitol Theatres are changing the Cult Film Series to the Late Shift. OMG, "Big Trouble in Little China"! And "Clerks" on the big screen. "My mom's been fuckin' a dead guy for 30 years. I call him Dad."

John Frusciante leaves the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Well, he quit a year ago and just made it public. Glad I got to see him live. Great guitarist.

Target fires emplotyees for buying Zhu Zhu Pets early.

Hey, did you know we've been attacking Yemen?

I cannot wait to see the White Stripes DVD, with their much better trailer this time:



Time Warner is the devil. Now, they are threatening to pull Fox from the lineup.

Vote on the Worst Ideas of the decade.

Ending the debate about decades. Millenium gets trickier. Are you an Ordinal Guy or a Cardinal Guy?

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

The classic. Could you make a better Christmas song? So, why not call it "The Christmas Song". Written, as we all know, by Mel Torme poolside in California. It is the perfect blend of arrangement, lyric and artist.

"The Christmas Song"/Nat King Cole



Exercise Yard

Mike Holmgren turns down the Seahawks. Not exactly earth-shattering. I think the money and power in Cleveland trumped any offer being made there.

So, the likelihood of Holmgren arriving here grows more and we'll know by Monday. And that means Eric Mangini would be gone. The precedent was set when Bill Parcells fired Cam Cameron after his dreadful season at coach, when he took over the running of the Dolphins. I'm sure lots of names are going to be tossed around for coach and GM. Holmgren's agent represents a lot of front office and coaching types. Two names to keep an eye on are the former GM in Denver, Ted Sundquist, and the current Vikings defensive coordinator, Leslie Frazier.

Visitor

None, on a snow-dusted Sunday.