...NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Have you been watching? I have, faithfully. I have had my bracket broken so many times it is unrecognizable. No #1's left but a #11 and a #10 are in there. Do rankings even matter anymore? I guess sense this is rare you can say that they do, but I am starting to wonder... If Kentucky lost against UNC then all 5, yes I have 5 brackets, would have been killed. Duke let me down, Kansas let me down, Ohio State let me down and so on and so on, but Butler and VCU shocked me, no awe, just shocked me. These relatively young coaches leading these teams who rarely make it past the field of 32, though Butler made it to the finals last year, are now in the Final Four. I cannot wait until next year when the rankings come out, will Butler and VCU be in the top 10? Possibly, more so Butler than VCU. Will those rankings matter or last? I am sure those teams will get more and better recruits from this exposure and their more than likely higher rankings, but as we saw this year this weeks #1 team is next weeks #5. I am going to give this Tournament a Digit Up because I am a little upset that I may bomb with the my brackets, bu the overall excitement and uncertainty is not only great for the schools, NCAA, channels (ratings), advertisers and players, it is great for the viewers...the fans.

...Mike Adams, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Terrelle Pryor and Solomon Thomas

Mike Adams, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Terrelle Pryor and Solomon Thomas are all members of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, college. These guys were found guilty of rules violations according to the NCAA. What did they do? Get free tattoos in exchange for autographs as well as selling some memorabilia for cash for their families. Now they will be punished. Although they have a game coming up soon, the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas, they will still be able to play that game, but they will have to sit out the 1st 5 games of the 2011 season! I find tattoos crass and Pyror alone has enough for the whole team so to think he was getting more makes me ugh. He and others got caught giving away autographs for tattoos! It makes you wonder if they have a problem. if you cannot afford them, do not get them, and even if you can, think it over for a decade. Beyond that they also sol d items such as trophies and awards that they thought they owned but apparently the schooled owned them, odd I know. They wanted the money so that they could give it to their families, awww. But now they will be out of the 1st 5 games, some of them hoping that 2011 would be their best season, their BCS Bowl season. Apparently one of the members has even started his paperwork for the NFL draft, but the coach would not say. Here is a list of the guys and what they actually did.
• Adams must repay $1,000 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring.
• Herron must repay $1,150 for selling his football jersey, pants and shoes for $1,000 and receiving discounted services worth $150.
• Posey must repay $1,250 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring for $1,200 and receiving discounted services worth $50.
• Pryor must repay $2,500 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring, a 2009 Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his 2008 Gold Pants, a gift from the university.
• Solomon must repay $1,505 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring for $1,000, his 2008 Gold Pants for $350 and receiving discounted services worth $155.
• Jordan Whiting must sit out the first game next year and pay $150 to a charity for the value of services that were discounted because of his status as a student-athlete.

The NCAA is a tad harsh sometimes, and this could be one of those times. 5 games in the NCAA is a major deal. If you lose 1 game you just lost you shot at the title. I know the seniors are going to be pissed, but what can they do? I look at this and think, Cam Newton was not the dirty quarterback....it was Terrelle Pryor the whole time! I am sure that these guys made a few honest mistakes but it has cost the whole team a title, we all just know this. I am giving them all a Digit Down.

...Cam Newton

Cameron "Cam" Jerrell Newton won the 76th Heisman Trophy Saturday and really no one was surprised. He is on the number one college football team in the country, he set a SEC-best 1,409 yards rushing with 21 touchdowns, and 2,589 yards passing and 28 TD passes. He’s the first SEC player to run for at least 1,000 yards and pass for at least 2,000 in the same season. His father was not there, which as we know is because of his involvement in the whole "pay for play" thing that is still on people's minds. Any who he won and it was not shocking. It was a little embarrassing for the other players here because they knew they had NO chance in winning. Cam received 729 first-place votes and outpointed runner-up Andrew Luck of Stanford by 1,184 points.


All in all I will give him a Digit Up for winning and for the voters supporting him and whatnot. I sort of expect the trophy to be given back in 5 years but maybe I will be wrong.

...The Heisman Trophy Trust

The Heisman Trophy Trust has decided that Reggie Bush should no longer be considered the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner. This should all be over by the end of the month. You could say that this was a long time coming. After the NCAA found major multiple violations in the USC football program this Summer, they punished the school harshly, but still fairly. Now due to the fact that Bush was ineligible during his Heisman-winning season in 2005, he will have to give the trophy back. This would be the 1st time in the entire history of the award that it has ever been taken away. What makes it worse is that now the trophy will go to no one, it will just be a blank year. I do think Reggie cares a little, but he would care much more if he were still in school and if he had not just won a Super Bowl. This is a bit much, but I think it will teach a lesson, hopefully, to future players, coaches and colleges. I am giving this action a Digit Up.