There was a point in the second half of last night’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game that I found myself wondering, “Hey self, is this game on track to become what most people on the Twitters will call one of the worst national championship games in recent history?” Thankfully, the Kansas Jayhawks made one of their trademark late runs to chop a 16-point Kentucky Wildcats lead down to 5, making it a slightly above average title game.

And that’s about all there is to it, because terrible ball-handling by the Jayhawks in the last three minutes allowed the Wildcats to win their first title since 1998 and the 8th in program history, according to the really lame “GR8NESS” thing all the fans were doing. But congrats to Kentucky fans, unless they keep setting their cities on fire, in which case you guys are setting a poor example for the students of schools with terrible basketball programs.

As for the star of this game, UK’s Anthony Davis, he probably had the most amazing 6-point effort we’ll ever hear about, because his 16 rebounds and 6 blocks show just how amazing he might possibly one day be, depending on whether he stays at Kentucky or becomes the guy that Michael Jordan passes on as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

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You can barely notice the photoshopping.

I can’t believe the Final Four is already here. It seems like just yesterday I was telling my friends how Missouri was the most complete team and if the Tigers could get past Michigan State, then the championship was as good as theirs. That’s because that was yesterday, and I haven’t stopped bitching about how this stupid NCAA Tournament didn’t start properly and they should have started it over the moment that Norfolk State screwed everything up. Damn it, if I could re-start Contra because I didn’t enter the cheat code in time, then I should be able to demand that 600 student athletes postpone their studies for one more week for the sake of my mild gambling habits.

But that’s the power of the tourney, friends. Very little has made sense thus far, except that the Kentucky Wildcats are as unstoppable as everyone but Ashley Judd and a few hundred moonshine distributors want them to be. That’s not to say that this Final Four lacks excitement, though. Quite the opposite. Sure, I may only have one team left and I’m in dead last, but my viewing enjoyment shall be taken care of. More importantly, we’re all in for some excitement, which is why I’m back once again to display my incredible expert knowledge.

How much of an expert am I? Check my bracket for yourself.

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Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is best known for watching a dude murder someone his leadership abilities and unstoppable determination.  His pre-game pep-talks (read: screaming a bunch) are the stuff of legend and always entertaining. On Tuesday, Lewis paid a surprise visit to the Stanford men’s basketball team, who were preparing for their semifinal game against UMass in the 2012 NIT Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Tom FitzGerald at SFGate was kind enough to share the video of Lewis giving his pep talk. Have a look for yourself:

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With Brandon out gallivanting around Austin for SXSW, living the rock star life, and me back here at home watching the baby, I realized that I forgot to do a ROFLMNBAO post last week, and for that I can’t apologize enough. But I also figured that we could take a breather from Dwight Howard’s flip-flopping, Chris Bosh’s squawking, Blake Griffin’s air balling and Derrick Rose’s back injuring and celebrate some of the stars of the weekend’s NCAA Tournament action for this week’s edition.

After all, there were some great games that none of us expected as the Sweet 16 field presented itself. And to tie the NBA and NCAA ends together, I got to wondering what would have happened if Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan would have taken the Orlando Magic head coach position a few years ago, instead of backing out and returning to UF. And I don’t imaging it would be much different, as Otis Smith would have still traded for the worst contract in basketball and I’d still have the liver of a 63-year old.

On with the celebration and mockery of America’s student-athletes!

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We’ve talked a lot at With Leather about the racist things you are and aren’t allowed to say about Jeremy Lin’s unexpected run as the HNIC (or its equivalent) of the New York Knicks. We’ve disagreed a lot, and I probably shouldn’t have tried to quote Lean On Me in the previous sentence, but the one thing upon which we could reach a consensus opinion is “if you’ve got something racially sketchy to say about Jeremy Lin, don’t say it in front of a camera or type it on the Internet”.

Unfortunately, Maryland football signee Stefon Diggs has just discovered Lin and didn’t get the memo, so here he is on his Twitter saying Jeremy Lin’s penis is an egg roll and his balls are dumplings, because “China”. And yeah, getting furious and demanding apologies for it are a stupid waste of time, but it’s worth pointing out and just kinda broadly facepalming about.

Personally, I think Stefon should get back into his transformation chamber, turn back into Steve Diggs and be the lovable nerd we all know and love.

[h/t Jason Kirk @ SBN]

You may not know Jackson Blankenship by name, but you’ve definitely seen him by now. He’s the heckling Alabama basketball fan with the bitter beer face mug and the oversized copy of his face that was recently caught behind the basket, tormenting University of Florida players. He’s a simple man with simple goals, according to his Tumblr profile:

Top ten things I want to get involved with in college (no particular order)

10. Making viral videos
9. Producing an album filled with awesome yet strange music through Garage Band
8. Selling / Buying stuff on eBay
7. Going on an obscene amount of trips
7. Learn to count
6. Attempt stand up comedy
5. Meet Conan O’Brien
4. Join a band and play at least one bar show
3. [Over Four years] see every MLB team play. Even you, Toronto Blue Jays.
2. Make a short film
1. Dominate some intramural sports, yo.

Last night, Jackson made the big time as he donned a new York Knicks “Linsanity” t-shirt and he sat behind the basket with his trademark face sign during the Knicks’ 100-92 loss to the New Jersey Nets. And cementing his new celebrity fan status is a visit to the Today Show this morning. Somewhere, cigar-smoking golf fan is weeping.

As an added bonus, a guy named Jordy Appel also scooped the Today Show on the first big interview with Jackson (I assume they’re friends) which quells my demand for a window into the mind of this strange new character.

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