Return of the Onions

What happens when you are on an airplane for four and half hours, need a break from doing your "real" job (thank you wifi on Southwest!), and start seeing some tweets about college basketball media day? You rededicate yourself to your college basketball blog, that's what you do!

And then you go and post this song to get it stuck in everyone's head - throwback to high school anyone?



By the way, did you know that the Return of the Mack official video has 8,996,280 views on youtube? I have no bearing on whether or not this is super high or average. As reference, This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan has just over 9 million views, while Thong Song has over 17 mllion views. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you work The Thong Song into a college basketball blog post.

Now, onto more pertinent information regarding some college hoops. Here are a few stories we are following (not breaking).

Sunk my aircraft carrier? Our beloved Syracuse Orange were set to square off against San Diego State on November 9th on the retired USS Midway aircraft carrier flight deck, which is docked in San Diego. This would be the second straight year a basketball game was being played on a aircraft carrier (last year it was UNC and Michigan State).
As of this morning, it looks like this game is in limbo. Apparently the fan fest, concert, and other tomfoolery around the event are all being canceled because the inability to find a national sponsor. Interesting since the game is just over a month away. I'm sure Ron Burgundy and Champ Kind will have more details as this story breaks.
It would be ironic if the game does get canceled though. Syracuse, who gets a bad rap for not playing outside the state of NY until January most seasons, tries to not only go across the country to play again, but they aren't even playing the game on land. Maybe its just not meant to be. Stay at the Dome, Jimmy B.

SI.com

Jabari Parker: The top ranked player in high school hoops since LeBron James happens to reside and play in Daily Onions backyard on the south side of Chicago. The Simeon High School (same as Derrick Rose) senior has narrowed down his list to five schools. Unfortunately for those fans of in-state schools, DePaul and Illinois are nowhere to be found. According to ESPN recruiting folks, Simeon coach Robert Smith said DePaul was the toughest school for Jabari to leave off the list. Wonder if Oliver Purnell and company can use that in their recruiting pitch..."We were #6 on Jabari's list!!"

The top 5 for Jabari looks like this (in no particular order): Stanford, Michigan State, Duke, BYU and Florida (no Kentucky, thank goodness...Calipari did get the Harrison twin brothers yesterday though, both ranked in the top 5 of the class of 2013). Parker and his family are Mormons, so that explains BYU. From all accounts, Jabari is a great kid all around, (check out this article on him from Sports Illustrated) including the classroom, to go along with his basketball ability. Would be pretty cool to see him go to a BYU or Stanford. My early prediction that doesn't mean a damn thing, Michigan State. I'm basing this on Tom Izzo make a couple of extra trips to Chicago during the season last year, just to sit court side and make eye contact with Jabari.

Butler heading East: You didn't think we were going to get through our first post of 2012-13 without mentioning Onions favorite Butler and Brad Stevens did you? Well the Dawgs are on their way to the Atlantic 10 this season. Stevens and company were at the Jay-Z Center in Brooklyn today for the conference media day. Butler has some high expectations this season (despite being picked to finish 6th in the league), after missing the NCAA tournament last year. They bring everyone important back except Ronald Nored (graduation) and Chrishawn Hopkins (dismissed from team). They also add 6-6 freshman guard Kellen Dunham (2-time All-State player in Indiana), as well as senior Rotnei Clark, who transferred from Arkansas. Clark is said to be one of the best shooters in the country. As he'll soon find out, the measurements in Hinkle Fieldhouse are the same as his court back at home ("10 feet........15 feet").

Happy Birthday! Shout out to Daily Onions loyal reader, my dad. He's celebrating his birthday today (October 5th) poolside or green-side down in Florida. Appreciate all the support, whether it was while I was on the basketball court, on the blogosphere, or life in general. Enjoy!

Happy 100th!! Top 10 Posts in Daily Onions History

It's a big day today with lots of reason to celebrate. Yes, Christmas is only 5 days away, and yes Hanuka starts tonight, and yes there is a very important birthday today, but most importantly, today marks the 100th post in Daily Onions history!!

We figured there is no better way to celebrate number 100, then by looking back and reminiscing about where this blog has been over the past 99 posts. Here are the Top 10 posts in Daily Onions history, counting down from 10. (click the link to open story in a new tab)

10. Unit, Corps, God, Country- Daily Onions dives in to the Op-Ed world with its thoughts on BYU's Brandon Davies being suspended for breaking the school's Honor Code. Bonus - anytime you can work a quote from A Few Good Men into a column, it's a must - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/03/unit-corps-god-country.html

9. ONIONS Exposed- What would a college basketball blog be without a contest for March Madness. This post goes 1 on 1 with the 1st Annual Daily Onions Show Us Your Onions Winner - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/04/onions-exposed.html

Photo: SI.com

8. Memorable Melo- One of our favorite college basketball players (for obvious reasons), puts up an epic performance for a different orange and blue in last year's NBA playoffs - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/04/memorable-melo.html

7. Mach3 Fact Shaving- Remember when the biggest scandal involving Syracuse basketball was a bad rumor about point shaving? http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/02/mach3-fact-shaving.html

6. LeBron Best in Show...Right Now- We are very lucky that we included the words "right now" in this title, because after the Eastern Conference Championship, LeBron truly was on top of the game. Then we all know what happened in the finals. Go Mavs! http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/05/lebron-best-in-showright-now.html

5. State of the Onions Address- If your blog title resembles Union, the State of the Union address is a perfect time to piggyback with your own speech your constituents...with Raftery and Gus presiding, obviously. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/state-of-onions-address.html

4. Gimme Jimmer: Running Diary- Daily Onions had Jimmer Fever last year (hopefully we'll catch it this year too), and we documented every minute of one of his games at BYU. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/gimme-jimmer.html

3. Big E Hoops Weekend Recap- This could be number 1 on the list. Three days, three basketball games, three college alma maters. It doesn't get any better than that. Relive one of the greatest sports weekends. Thank you Basketball Scheduling Gods. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/survive-and-advance-big-e-hoops-weekend.html

Photo: New York Times

2. Why Blog? Why Onions? You never forget your first. This was the first ever post of Daily Onions, which explains why we got started in the first place. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-blog-why-onions.html

1. One Shining Moment- Do you remember where you were when this happened? One of the defining moments in the past year. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-shining-moment.html

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to having you around for the next 100 posts!

The Big Easy: Southeast Region

Daily Onions gets a double word score for today's title, since the Southeast Regional final will be held in New Orleans, and it seems to be the simplest road to the Final Four for the top seeds. Here's our in-depth analysis of this region, with who we think will be headed to Houston in two and half weeks. 

Toughest First Round Match up: #8 Butler vs. #9 Old Dominion. If these two teams were playing anyone else, I'd bet that most people would have them both advancing. A battle of two of the best mid-majors in the country, Butler struggled for most of the season but put things together down the stretch and ended up winning the Horizon League. Old Dominion has won 14 of their last 15 games, and has stacked up SIX wins against this year's tournament field. As much as we hate to say it, Daily Onions is leaning ODU here.

Most Historical Matchup: #7 UCLA vs. #10 Michigan State. We've discussed Michigan State's problems all year long. It is March though, do you pick against them? Regardless of who wins this game, we think they'll be sent home by #2 Florida in Round 2. If it ends up being Florida and Michigan State, it will be a rematch of the 2000 Finals, in which the Spartans won.

Upset Special x 3: #11 Gonzaga (vs. #6 St. John's), #12 Utah State (vs. #5 Kansas State) and #13 Belmont (vs. #4 Wisconsin) are all higher seeds that could be trendy upset picks in this bracket. St. John's will be short-handed after losing DJ Kennedy in the Big East tournament, while Gonzaga is tournament tough, making their 87th straight Big Dance (13th, actually). Utah State has been ranked in the top 25 this year, won 30 games and has an RPI of 15. When they were announced as a 12 seed, they did not look happy about that. Might be leaning that way, instead of going with a hot and cold K-State team. We think Wisconsin, who is coming off a loss to Penn State in which they scored 33 points, will bounce back and take care of Belmont. Bo Ryan isn't ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet.

What Happens? We are going to go with Pittsburgh meeting Florida (who will end Jimmer Mania in the Sweet 16) in the Regional Final. Yes, we know that's very chalk-y, but get used to it. Game being played in New Orleans, Florida has the advantage and Pitt goes home w/o a trip to the Final Four once again.

Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!

Unit, Corps, God, Country

Sir. For any normal, living, breathing human being, you know that today's title is the "code" for the U.S. Marines in the movie A Few Good Men. If for some reason you don't know that, stop reading this post, run, don't walk to the nearest TV and odds are the movie should be on TNT, TBS or another movie channel. And then give yourself minus 50 points for never seeing the movie.

So where were we...ahh, yes, the code. We all know that code. And in the last 48 hours, the college basketball world has learned about a new code, the BYU Honor Code. That's because the third ranked Cougs, led by everyone's favorite - Jimmer, lost one of their best players for the rest of the SEASON because he violated the school's Honor Code. Brandon Davies, the sophomore forward, was third on the team in scoring, first in rebounding and first in honor code violations. The news broke on Wednesday that Davies would not be able to participate with the basketball team for the rest of the season because he had premarital sex, which is against the code. Dismissed from the team (his name isn't even on the roster on the school's website anymore) during the day, the Cougs than went out and laid an egg against New Mexico at home, losing 82-64 (on a side note - BYU is now winless against NM in their last four regular season matchups). Even the previously indestructible Jimmer was 1-9 from 3 pt land on Wednesday night.

Things you won't see anymore: Davies dunking

Do we feel bad for Davies and the Cougs? Definitely. They were having an unbelievable season, just completed the season sweep of San Diego State, and were putting themselves in line to be a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. At the same time though, Davies and all other students at BYU know what they are signing up for. The Honor Code at BYU contains things that all of us probably violated within the first 48 hours of stepping onto our college campus. Things that are included in the code: using clean language, abstaining from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse, observing the dress and grooming standard, etc. Raise your hand if you got through a week of college obeying those rules. Heck, raise your hand if you got through this morning without any violations. So yes, 99% didn't want an Honor Code to be a part of our college experience, and many of those things might seem outlandish and ridiculous.

I'll tell you who did want those rules as part of their college experience though, Brandon Davies and the other 33,999 (approximate) students that are currently enrolled at BYU. Are all of those students perfect? Probably not. Do some of those students violate the Honor Code and get away with it? I'd bet, yes. The bottom line is, Davies knew what he was signing up for. He knew what the Honor Code was. He knew that if he violated the code, there would be consequences. Just because people violate the code and get away with it, doesn't make it right. Once you make the decision to break the rules, you need to be willing to accept the punishment. Just because someone drives drunk and gets away with it, doesn't mean they didn't break the law. They did indeed break the law, and if they continue to test the system, eventually it's going to come back to haunt them. In the case of Brandon Davies, it's not only haunting him, but also his teammates, his family, and the entire University.

Whether or not BYU is trying to set an example by coming down hard on a high-profile athlete is besides the point. There is a code and you need to obey the code. If that's not for you, go to another school. There are plenty of more options out there.

With that said, it is a shame that BYU won't be full strength going into post season play. Davies was a very big part of their team, especially in rebounding/defensive aspects of the game. I don't think the blow-out loss to New Mexico is that alarming, as the Cougs had just heard news of Davies dismissal earlier that day and were pretty shell-shocked. As we mentioned, New Mexico has had BYU's number as well, winning their previous four matchups. It's not clear where BYU will be ranked heading into the tournament, probably a 2 seed.

One thing that is clear though, don't sleep on the Cougs. They'll still be a tough out and a feared team in two weeks. I don't think anyone in the country wants to line up against Jimmer in a do or die, win or go home tournament. Are we clear? Crystal.

Gimme Jimmer

Jimmer mania is sweeping the college basketball nation. Daily Onions has only seen his highlights on Sportscenter, so we were pumped to watch the #9 BYU Jimmers host still unbeaten #4 San Diego State. In honor of the joyous occasion, which was being shown on CBS College Sports Network, I decided to keep a running diary of all the action - to help those of you that don't get CBSCSN, or those of you that fall asleep before 10 pm EST/9 pm CST (usually me). This post is inspired by the numerous running diaries by the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons that we've all enjoyed reading over the years. Here it goes (time listed is the time left in the half/game):

I am Jimmer, see me score.

Ted Robinson and Steve Lappas on the call tonight for CBSCSN. Lappas doesn’t know he has a microphone and is yelling uncontrollably. 

18:50 Jimmer misses his first shot, a runner in the lane.

18:37 SDSU's D.J Gay fouled on a 3 pointer. Lappas discusses why you need to get out on shooters – “When a guys is on that kind of fire….you need to close out on him" Never knew there was more than one kind of fire.

18:20 2 on 1 break for BYU – Jimmer keeps it ans is on the board with a layup….

17:55  Jimmer drives to the lane, gets blocked. SDSU didn't get memo that you are NOT allowed to block Jimmer like that…

Nothing important happens in the game, so I realize that Lappas's Bronx accent is out of control. He sounds like he is announcing a boxing match and yelling everytime Robinson stops talking. No way he lasts the entire game at this pace.

14:08 Our first TV timeout, SDSU up 8-6. During the break, I Google Lappas 30 tweets pop up asking why Lappas is yelling so much.

12:15 Jimmer hits his first three pointer. 12-11 SDSU leads.

11:25 Brandon Davies scores again for BYU. Has 8 of their 13. Thinks the 24 NBA Scouts in attendance are there for him. 

10:14 SDSU calls timeout with the score tied at 15. Very quick pace thus far. Jimmer has 5 points.

9:50 Jimmer threads the needle on a ¾ court pass…teammate blows the layup. Jimmer decides he won't pass the ball again.

8:58 Jimmer drives, takes on contact from big man and gets the layup. Has 7 of BYU's 17 points. That drive reminded me of seeing Jameer Nelson(St. Joseph's) at MSG against Gonzaga back in 2003 (the same night my roommate fell in love with Alabama's Chuck Davis). Jimmer says he compares himself to Deron Williams (strength) and Mark Price (shooter/PG)

8:08 Shotclock down to 8, Jimmer hits a 17 ft pull up jumper on the baseline. Has 9 of BYU's 19 points

7:21 Official timeout. Actually the under 12, score tied at 19. Out of the timeout, Jimmer not on the floor, 70 percent of audience changes channel.

6:44 Under 8 timeout. I’m going to be pissed if Jimmer is on the court when the game returns

6:43 Jimmer returns. Then proceeds to jump in the air with nowhere to go and turns it over. Bad Jimmer.

5:14 ANOTHER Foul called. That's 2 fouls in the last 2 minutes. There were 2 fouls in the first 13 minutes. Clean it up guys, you are cutting into Jimmer time.

5:10 Steve Lappas makes a "chopped liver" reference. 

4:41 Jimmer pumps, takes a dribble and nails a 3…has 12 of 22….on the way back down court tells Lappas to stop talking

3:34 Someone just fouled Jimmer, which takes us to under 4 timeout. SDSU leads 24-22 SDSU.

3:12 My first holy sh*t, Jimmer is the man moment. Nasty crossover and drains the three. Has 15 of 25 BYU points.

2:35 Jimmer drives, pulls up..cash 17 points.

1:50 Jimmer drives, draws foul. Makes 1 of 2, BYU is up 28-26. Jimmer has 18.

1:25 Jimmer with the blow by and the layup. 30-26 BYU. Jimmer with 20 points.

:05 SDSU's Kawhi Leonard, who has the flu, drains a three to put SDSU up 31-30 at the half. Jimmer scored the final 15 for BYU, has 20 of team's 30 points.