Ebay Item of the Week: Zomething Different

Z is for Zima. It's also for the greatness that was Zubaz. Kids, this week's Ebay Item of the Week is too good to pass up. At $59.99 this Syracuse Zubaz hat is a steal.

Zubaz...it's zomething different.

Quick aside: they sold this stuff in cans???

Zubaz....it worked for the Dolphins:

Snooki Stadium

Seriously, it could happen. When Rutgers is involved, we won't put anything past them.

Syracuse Football: We're Telling You There's a Chance

No one expects the Syracuse football team to win the National Championship this year. Most reasonable fans realize the limitations of this rebuilding program and want to see the team continue to build on the improvement we saw during last year's 4-8 season.

The other day a web site called Sports Book Lists previewed the 2010 Syracuse football team. The good news -- the site notes what those of us who have been closely watching the program believe:

"Big East coaches are privately saying that Syracuse is much improved because the coaching is."

The bad news:

"But as second-year coach Doug Marrone knows, it still comes down to players – and he doesn’t have enough of them."

The good news through the eyes of Lloyd Christmas:

Odds to win A National Championship: 100-1.

Take it away Lloyd:

Craig Kilborn is Back Ba-by

Have you heard that former SportsCenter anchor and late night talk show host Craig Kilborn is back on TV? Of course you haven't. And that's OK since his show only on in seven markets and you probably can't see it anyway.

However, back in the day when he was making snarky comments while giving us our sports highlights (pre-internet) we were big Kilborn fans, so this news give me an excuse to run one of my favorite all-time SportsCenter commercials - ringers. It still cracks me up when Craigers drops the plumber-boy line.



And while we are on the topic, this is another classic Kilborn SportsCenter commerical.



And finally, even though Kilborn isn't in the "Big Buddy" spot, we are morally obligated to post it here because watching adults beat up kids is hilarious.

Syracuse Alumni Talk About Coaching at SU

If you've got the time -- and since every one is bored to death with trying to figure out where LeBron will land or listen to dopey debates whether Stephen Strasburg should pitch in the All Star Game -- you probably do, check out this ESPNU Campus Connection piece on Syracuse coaches talking about coaching at their alma mater.

Ebay Item of the Week: Orange Keg

The keg party....we long for the days of paying $5 for a plastic cup and telling our buddies, "Bush Light....not bad."

For those Orange fans who keep their kegs cold via the kegerator, we suggest this week's Ebay Item of the Week.

Just a word of warning....keg parties can get a bit out of control. Lloyd Dobler can't be at all of them.

Paging Mr. Johnson: There's an Opening in New Jersey

As Axe points out, talk is heating up that the New Jersey Nets are interested in drafting Syracuse forward Wes Johnson with the third pick in tomorrow's draft. The issue for New Jersey is they already have a couple of young players who also play small forward in Terrence Williams and Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Well it appears there's an opening as ESPN is reporting Douglas-Roberts has been traded to Milwaukee - which would of course lead to some immediate playing time for Johnson. We personally would like to see Wes drafted as high as possible, the guy has earned it. However, a little advice from the idiots, Wes, if you do end up in New Jersey, stay the hell away from Newark.

I Enjoyed this Wes Johnson Video

Wes Johnson will be drafted somewhere early on Thursday. The Big Lead has some speculation on where Wes will be drafted, and let's just say the Timberwolves don't have their act together. Then again, after drafting back to back point guards last year, every one already knew that.

At the end of the post there is the highlight video below and after watching it again all I can think is daaaaaaaaaaaaamn we're gonna miss this dude. It's hard to believe a year ago we knew very little about him. Good luck Wes and may your future be Minnesota-free.

Tiger Woods' Week - Via Google Search

With the US Open behind us, Tiger Woods is 0-2 in major championships so far this year. Here's a quick look at his week through the eyes of Google.

Sports Fixing

Our good friend Matt McClusky was kind enough to have me on the air this afternoon - you can listen to the whole show here. Matt and I cover topics like college football conference realignment, the future of the Big East and dudes sending other dudes flowers.

Viva La World Cup

I can't say I'm much of a soccer fan. However, being married to a former soccer player, I've caught a little of the World Cup playing in the background while working around the house the past few days.

My limited soccer knowledge aside, when I see headlines that the French team is being mocked by the whole world, that's just too good to pass up.

Sammy Malone, putting one over on the French:

President Obama Joins Syracuse Bloggers in Stopping the Wave

Via Deadspin we learn that President Obama refused to do the wave this weekend. While we rarely venture into politics here at T3I, having a world leader take a stand against such a reviled activity certainly merits a post since it's long over due. We only ask you leaders of the world - what took you so long? The Syracuse Orange blogging community has been firmly against this moronic sporting event tradition for a long time.

Now if people would just do something about the damn vuvuzelas.....

Ebay Item of the Week: The New Big East

With this week's T3I Ebay Item of the Week, you can catch the first peek at John Marinatto's flowery vision of the "new" Big East. No word if any filming took place in Memphis or Central Florida.

Albert Haynesworth is Misunderstood

Photo: Fox Sports

People - calm down and stop ripping Albert Haynesworth. He's not classless. He's not selfish. He's simply observing national Recess at Work Day. Today, June 17, 2010, is a day that calls for people to take a recess from:

• Low employee morale

• Decreasing employee engagement

• Lacking creativity and innovation

• Employee turnover issues

• Customer base slipping

Clearly Albert is staying away from Redskins mandatory team activities to get away from the low moral and lack of creativity the 3-4 defense is bringing to him. So don't rip Albert for not showing up -- because if you do, you're infringing on his right to celebrate recess at work day - and that makes you a fervant anti-recessist, and you wouldn't want that now would you? Didn't think so.

Neville Chamberlain Marinatto Appeases With Roses

Don't worry Big East fans, Commissioner John Marinatto has this whole conference realignment thing well under control. After the Big 10 announced they were exploring expansion opportunities, Marinatto promptly did and said nothing - and followed that up by asking Paul Tagliabue to come on board and help him figure out what to do.

Once the Big 10 landed a bigger fish in Nebraska, and Texas held up Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe at gun point and took what they wanted, Marinatto sprung into action -- by sending Beebe 10 roses. I swear this isn't one of those dumb stories we sometimes make up around here to get a laugh - it's real.

You cannot make this stuff up. Setting aside the sheer ridiculousness of the gesture, let me offer some unsolicited advice. In my real life I'm a public relations consultant and I can tell you it doesn't take a genius to understand that when you are seen as weak and ineffectual and you publicly bond with another colleague who is also seen as weak and ineffectual - and you do it by SENDING FLOWERS, you do nothing to dissuade people from thinking you're weak and ineffectual.

What you are is Neville Chamberlain - declaring that we have seen peace for our time.....until other conference commissioners decide it's time to invade Poland anyway and take your league down in the process.

Ebay Item of the Week: Big Red, Big Orange, Big 10

We're going "Back to the Future" with our Ebay Item of the Week. The year is 1983, and little did we know, the #1 Nebraska Cornhuskers battled future Big 1o rival Syracuse in a 63-7 thriller at Lincoln's Memorial Stadium. You're in luck if you've been looking for the official game program to that barn burner.

We're not stopping there. The T3I research staff has found this Youtube gem that combines a really bad music track with some Zapruder-quality film footage.



Did anyone else expect to see Bigfoot flying a UFO in this grainy footage?

Of course, one year later the good guys wearing orange would get one of their biggest wins in program history, and more importantly crack the list of some crappy blog.

USC Gets Probation - Vols Fans Get Sweet Revenge

There are reports from ESPN's Bruce Feldman that USC will be hit NCAA penalties that include a two year bowl ban and a loss of scholarships. On a related note, the news makes this lady more happy than when her husband brings home fresh roadkill.



And since we're on the topic, I wonder if these guys will record a new song? I hope so, any song that has the word "gonads" in it is OK by me.



Meanwhile, Pete Carroll could not be reached for comment since he was too busy eating maple bars....since you know, Golden Tate enjoys them while being drunk and retarded. Pete's grin says it all -- eating donuts in the NFL beats college probation any day of the week.

The Twelve Angry Men of the Big 12

Conference chaos is in full effect and no one knows what to believe or what college athletics will look like a day, a week, or a month from now. So what should fans do in times like this? Other than take everything you read with a grain of salt -- we recommend humor. Angry, bitter, biting humor that mocks the clown faced idiots that are about to turn college athletics upside down as they chase the almight TV dollar.

The BEST THING I've read in this regard comes from the Kansas State blog Bring on the Cats - which takes the premise of 12 Angry Men, combines it with Octonion principles and delivers an epic piece -- mostly because the humor is based in truth. So for those of you exasperated by the insanity of it all, take a couple of minutes and read the Adventures of the Big 12: Twelve Angry Men, you won't regret it.

Soccer Fans Celebrate the World Cup with a Stampede

I'm not sure who has a more well earned reputation for being out of control - Philadelphia sports fans or soccer fans. In Philly they've got fat drunkards puking on people in the stands, whereas soccer fans do what they do best - riot, stampede, and cause chaos.

Since soccer fans seem to do this en masse, I'm going with them, but check it out for yourself -- this AP video from two days ago shows thousands of soccer fans stampeding outside a stadium in South Africa Sunday, leaving 15 people injured.



Meanwhile, continuing our comprehensive World Cup coverage, we want to warn you that the nation's soccer fan is becoming insufferable.

BREAKING: Conferences to Realign

Idiot News Service -- The Idiot News Service has learned exclusively that a bunch of conferences are talking to a bunch of teams about leaving the conference they are presently aligned with and switching to another one. You won't get this information anywhere else on the internet. In fact, it hasn't been reported yet.

Our sources are telling us the real reason behind conference realignment isn't money, but actually it's tacos. It seems certain locales are painfully deprived of these delicious food offerings (both hard shell and soft) and college coaches and adminstrators aren't going to stand for it any more.

One insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he's allergic to flour tortillas said the availability of delicious fish tacos on the west coast is the main impetus behind the PAC 10's aggressive expansion move. Texas coach Mack Brown is said to love these so much that in 1978 he traded his adopted Guatemalan son for a case of fish tacos shipped in on dry ice from San Diego.

Bob Stoops is so fed up with the cuisine in Oklahoma there are reports he's considering going to Burger King for the ribs. Clearly this food crisis is has reached a breaking point and the only cure it is massive conference realignment that will alter the face of college athletics for years to come.

You want the real reason Kansas could be left out in the cold in all this expansion talk? It's simple, those crappy shells you get in the Ortega taco kit is the only option for mexican food in the whole state.

So while the final realignment is still being decided based on which coaches prefer Tabasco and which go with Red Hot, we here at T3I want to offer a solution - let's have Judge Kige decide the future of college athletics, it makes about as much sense as realigning over tacos - or fast food ribs.

Ebay Items of the Week: The Ghost of Todd Marinovich

The T3I Time Machine takes us back to 1990....our beloved Syracuse Orangemen began the football season with a 34-16 loss against the Todd Marinovich-led USC Trojans in the Kickoff Classic. Our Ebay Items of the Week have you covered with official game tickets and the game program.

Axeman....if you're still out there, here are your #1 hits of 1990:

Ken Griffey Jr. Retires, Lil Penny is Sad

Ken Griffey Jr. hung up the spikes tonight, officially retiring after what is almost assuredly a Hall of Fame career. There will be a million tributes to Griffey scattered across the web, so we won't waste your time with another one here.

In true T3I style, we remember Junior for his off the field accomplishments - like running for President in 1996. His greatest mistake in that race - picking a moose for a running mate instead of Lil Penny Hardaway.

Jim Joyce Has a Bad Day at the Office

In case you somehow missed it, umpire Jim Joyce blew a call that would have been 27th out of a perfect game by Armando Galarraga. I'll be honest, a few hours ago I'd never heard of either of them. Needless to say, Twitter exloded with fun hash tags like #JimJoyceFacts. His Wikipedia page was locked so people didn't mess with it:

And Joyce himself feels terrible about the mistake and apologized to the player. It was a stand up move - and as Tyler Kepner of the NY Times points out, Joyce was doing his job. For this one play, he did it poorly.

So, as you settle in and ready to listen to Mike and Mike and every other talking head to debate the use of instant replay in baseball for the next two weeks, take a look at the play for yourself, it isn't pretty.