Slam dunks happen, and when they do, it’s important to know which one was best. Don’t ask me to explain it.

To help us objectively decide which slam dunk is best, we’ve decided to bring back our weekly poll and let you, the With Leather reader, help us with our science. Below are four dunks of note, followed by a place where you can vote on your favorite. Participation in this poll is mandatory, so please set aside your work or personal obligations to watch some videos and play Internet.

Your choices are:

1. Blake Griffin catching his 770th alley-oop of the season, authoritatively dunking it against the Chicago Bulls
2. Minnesota Golden Gopher Rodney Williams’ 360 dunk versus North Dakota State
3. JaVale McGee’s one-handed alley-oop snag against the Detroit Pistons
4. Anderson Varejao faking out Dwight Howard, dunking on Not Dwight Howard

Videos of each dunk are below.

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This gallery may not appeal to the more Hot-Cheerleaders-In-Slow-Motion-inclined members of the With Leather readership, but don’t be afraid to enjoy it, because at some point during the 1970s the Walt Disney Corporation teamed up with Wonder Bread to give away pennant stickers with loaves of bread that are literally nothing but Disney characters destroying college names with puns. Yes, that’s a sentence I’ve written.

As I see it, there are two fine ways to enjoy this:

1. Flipping through and trying to figure out which school each pennant represents, because some of them are a stretch.
2. Losing control of your neck and bashing your head against the desk in a full-body groan when you realize “Mickey Can Skate” is Michigan State, or whatever.

A third way to enjoy it is through the absurdity of the illustrations, like Cinderella doing 2,000 pounds of laundry in her ball gown or Goofy with a broken leg because you can only make so many puns about Tulane. And yes, ACC fans, here is where you learn about how Disney preappropriated your “dook” joke for Duke and made it about fowl royalty a decade or so before you were born. I kept expecting to see a Virginia Tech pennant where Shan Yu from Mulan is holding up a castrated turkey.

Note: Full credit for these goes to Disney, I guess, but credit for putting them on the Internet goes to Jason Liebig.

[h/t Disney Food Blog]

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When someone’s got a restraining order on you, don’t write on their Facebook wall. Trevor Mbakwe, a forward from Minnesota, couldn’t comprehend these rules and was arrested for violating a restraining order his ex-girlfriend had on him.

From the Huffington Post:

Police said Mbakwe was booked into Ramsey County Jail on misdemeanor charges after he posted a message on a St. Paul woman’s Facebook page. The woman had previously filed a restraining order against Mbakwe in Dakota County, and reported the contact to police.

University of Minnesota police took Mbakwe into custody at home near campus and brought him to jail. Bail was set at $500.
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If you haven’t seen the Metrodome roof buckling under the weight of a foot and a half of snow, you certainly haven’t realized that the Minnesota Vikings’ next home game is just five nights from now, when they will host the Chicago Bears. It has been a season of loss for last year’s NFC North champs. They’ve lost their coach, their star wide receiver, their quarterback’s consecutive games played streak, and now they’ve lost their stadium.

Before the Twins moved to Target Field last spring, vinyl banners bearing the likenesses of team stars — Hrbek, Puckett, Oliva, et. al. — hung in the Metrodome. I suggested on Twitter that the torn ceiling panel be patched with another such vinyl likeness: The former Twin Phil Roof to fill the Twins’ former roof.

–Steve Rushin/SI.

But what I don’t understand is why don’t they just rip that big sheet of Teflon off the Metrodome and continue playing in there, but under the elements, the way God intended. But no, they’re asking volunteers to shovel out the University of Minnesota’s digs to play there. Those students are still taking finals, people! Just rip the damn roof off and BAM! Instant stadium.

UPDATE: “Obvious” is now in quotes. It should be obvious why I did that.

Here’s video of the Minnesota Gopher openly mocking Penn State linebacker Jerome Hayes. I mean, he’s either mocking Hayes or saying some sort of counter-prayer to combat Hayes’ prayer. Or he was just talking trash to a guy that was trying to prepare himself for a game. Either way, I disapprove, and I hope he receives a strongly-worded letter from the Mascots’ Alliance. And oh by the way, God LOVES the BCS and hates the Pac-10. He told me so. via Everywhere.

I've spent the last several days (justifiably) disparaging the Big Ten tourney, but this ridiculous ending to Minnesota's upset of Indiana (via Fan IQ) goes a long way in making up for all that painful-to-watch hoops — Blake Hoffarber's miracle shot has definitely given me an anticipatory hard-on for the tourney this week.  Of course, the Golden Gophers then lost to #10 seed Illinois (16-18, 5-13 Big Ten) in the semis, so the Illini have a chance to slip into the NCAAs today if they can upend powerhouse Wisconsin.

The Illini aren't the only unlikely team gunning for the tourney: previously woeful Georgia has shown moxie in the face of the tornado-adjusted schedule in the SEC tournament, as a pair of wins by the Bulldogs yesterday — they had four wins in the SEC all season — has put the 16-16 Dawgs a win over Arkansas away from the conference title and a berth in the Dance.

Other NCAA results: Memphis won its conference tourney for the third straight year; Pitt beat G-town for the Big East title; UCLA are your Pac-10 champs; and Clemson-UNC and Texas-Kansas round out the major conference action on ESPN today.