Year in and year out, though, we hear the same talking heads on ESPN, giving us the “breakdown” of games and espousing “bracketology.” It’s mostly a bunch of nonsense. I’m not saying these people don’t know what they’re talking about — I love to hear Jay Bilas break down the intracacies of a game and enjoy hearing ex-coaches expose a bit of what goes on behind the scene, but I think a significant component of what happens in the NCAAs is random. Over a long enough run, I would bet that nobody beats picking higher seeds in a statistically significant way.

This is partly why it angers/saddens me that SportsCenter, a show I used to absolutely love, looks more like “The View” than a sports highlight show. Show us the highlights in a half hour. We watch because of the athletes and the game, not because of Stephen A. Smith.

In March of last year, the New York Times did a feature on former Georgetown jump-out-of-the-gym guard, Victor Page. Most of you remember Page as the prolific scorer with bad teeth who was the heir apparent to Iverson. Like Iverson, he had a big nose for trouble. Unlike Iverson, the lefty went undrafted when he left college after his sophomore year.

After a 4-year stint in the CBA with Sioux City and another stint in Europe, he found himself back on the streets of D.C. in 2003…

…where he was shot. Three bullets. One in his leg. One in his chest. And one in his right eye.

As of the article’s publishing, Page seems to have started to turn things around, despite having been shot again in the leg in the summer of 2005. He’s giving motivational speeches through the Urban League, presumably stressing the importance of staying out of trouble. Sadly, had he been given this advice 11 years ago when he was the Big East Tournament’s MVP, things might have turned out differently for Page.

It turns out that former ‘Cuse sharp-shooter Jason Cipolla has been dating Soprano’s star Lorraine Bracco for over, like, 5 years now. Cipolla was a behind-the-scenes driver for the show; Bracco was on screen, playing the mob-boss’s psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi. Psychoanalyze this, though: Bracco is 52 compared to Cipolla’s 31.

Cradle robber or Sugar Momma? (not that the two are mutually exclusive)

We congratulate Jason. Though he couldn’t make the NBA, he chose the next best thing…the AARP.

Kidding, of course. Best to both. Love the show.

Winona State came into the game with a 57 game winning streak (over two seasons), only to have it ripped away in the last minutes of this game. Thanks to Wing for the pointer to the youtube link.