There was video last week of Kevin Love hitting full court shots with a flick of the wrist, but this version is much better. Not only does he hit the full courter with ease he also throws in a half courter and a three quarter court shot beforehand just for the hell of it.

Via GLB....

At least they didn't in DC during the 2006 Tournament. This guy seems to have imbibed at some point during UCLA's first round action though....

If OMDQ is going to open up the confessional regarding his appreciation for Bill Simmmons, I can let my dirty little secret out, too.

I tune out sportscasters. During the Liveblogapocalypse, I had to remind myself to even note who was broadcasting the game. When AA left the door open for Channel Four team members to contribute more to the site, I knew I couldn't cover announcing any better than it is already being done by our fearless leader.

So I'll be looking at sports writing, which has, these days, become sort of the minor leagues for TV punditry anyway. I'll mercilessly root out cliches, expose hackery at every level, and even hand out kudos for good, original insight.

This week, I'll be focusing on the hometown columnists of the Final Four teams. For papers that need a login to read, I've provided a generic login that we can all use:

login ID: awfulwrite@gmail.com password: freeharold

I'll get started after the jump.

We'll start our tour with a West Coast Bias (someone has to have one, right?) The L.A. Times is covering the UCLA Bruins, and the most common angle they're taking is "Bruins want Revenge on Gators". Hey, guys, you have to play another game after that one to win the championship:

Ben Howland says "Stop! Collaborate and Listen..." Best line: ""Sometimes you block out his voice and go on instinct," sophomore Josh Shipp said." Hope you enjoy wind sprints, Josh.

Gin N' Goat Cheese - Arron Afflalo grew up on a farm... in Compton. Best line: "We'd be doing squats up and down the road and horses would chase us."

The Final Four is waaay better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Required reading for the Times staff: The Little Engine That Could.
History Suggests UCLA Loss
Bruins Could Be Gator Meat

Cali lives up to its reputation as a progressive state. Most of the Bruins' Final Four coverage comes from Diane Pucin and Helene Elliott.

Collecting the links is taking a while, so rather than make you wait for a long post about all four teams, I'm going to publish this one now, and put out three more posts the rest of the day to cover the rest of the teams.

The Emerald Walnuts Bowl
San Francisco, CA- AT&T Park





Florida State (6-6) v. UCLA (7-5)

Weather: Fair/Windy 56 Degrees

Past Results (4):

Dec. 29, 2005	Utah 38, Georgia Tech 10
Dec. 30, 2004	Navy 34, New Mexico 19
Dec. 31, 2003	Boston College 35, Colorado State 21
Dec. 31, 2002	Virginia Tech 20, Air Force 13

Player(s) to Watch: Florida State's DT's Broderick Bunkley (I'm an idiot....I meant Buster Davis who isn't even a DT.) and Andre Fluellen

Bank on this......UCLA plans on rushing the ball. The two big guys up front and the rest of the Seminole D are the only reason they even got to .500 on the year. Drew Weatherford (or whoever starts) is going to make mistakes. It's up to the defense to hold UCLA and give Weatherford a shorter field to work with.

UCLA's Junior Runningback #28- Chris Markey

Markey has 963 yards this season on 4.6 a carry. But oddly he only has 2 rushing TDs.....that might explain UCLA's Red Zone TD's being at only 41% (17 of 41). It's a good thing that UCLA is facing an anemic Florida State offense.

Deciding Factor(s): It's going to boil down to Defense and turnovers in this one. You could ultimately say that about any game, but I'm taking it a step further. One of these defenses will score a TD that will decide the game. The question is which one?

It's basically a wash in special teams with FSU having the better return game, and UCLA having the better kicker. Look for your boy FSU's Michael Ray Garvin to bust one tonight against UCLA's inconsistent coverage team.

Interesting Fact: The UCLA defense has made as big a turnaround as any unit in the country. The Bruins were 116th nationally in rushing defense last season; now they are 11th (89.2 yards per game).

Spread: UCLA -4.5, O/U 38.5

AA's Pick and Analysis: Good lord this is another tough one to pick. The smart pick is obviously UCLA who is peaking at the right time, but my gut is telling me FSU. I think I'm going to take the points in a close game, and FSU's defense might just pull it out for them.

Prediction UCLA 20-17.

I have no idea why they took the Walnuts part out of the Bowl, but it needs to come back. I should be around later if you'd like to have another pseudo Live-Blog. Good Luck.
__________________________

So from the comments I can figure out two things.....Dan Fouts is involved.....not good. And I'm an idiot for thinking that Brodrick Bunkley=Buster Davis. Good start AA.....goooooood start.

P.S.- Thanks Anon for not laying into me harder. I'm feeling very emotional right now and that would have hurt my ego. Not really, but thanks.

7-0 Noles

Wait.....make that 7-7 after a 78 yard catch and run by Breazell. So much for low scoring. Let's make this exciting.

8:41- The Bruins look like they can pass all over State. FSU really needs to blitz every down if they want to keep up.

"Pressure from Geno Davis on the blitz (player gets up and his jersey says Hayes) make that Geno Hayes"- Dan Fouts, not that I'm one for making fun of people who mess names up.

Danny Boy freaks out as Medlock hits a FG...

10-7 UCLA.

8:48-"As Jack talked about this is a flat field because it's a baseball field"- DF, So most football games are played on a hill Dan?

"Steve Barth our referee from the USA.....Conference."- DF, that's Conference USA to those of us who watch football.

I love how Dan Fouts basically turns himself into the main announcer for games.....I thought he was an analyst?

If anyone remembers the quarterback from Not Another Teen Movie who runs on the balls of his feet, and prances around..........that's Cowan. He just looks awkward.

9:13- So awkward that he throws a money pass to Junior Taylor for the score 17-10 UCLA.

"Booker looks looked like he was heading to halelujah land"

20-13 Half. I think Dan Fouts has to be the worst announcer ever.

C- AA, Cowan isn't quite Not Another Teen Movie Quarterback to me -- he's totally the dude from American Pie.

Touche' C.....touche'.

Florida State blocks a punt and runs it in for the 23-20 lead. So much for that over/under.....it's been destroyed.

On a short kickoff....."And the fair catch is signaled and....IT'S MIFFED!"