Nurse the Hate: Final Four

No matter which way you slice it, today is a journey into a wilderness of mirrors with the OSU v Georgetown game. This game can go either way, and I have no bright insight to trick you into going one way or the other. Or do I... Fact: Greg Oden is frequently in foul trouble and this is the first time he's gone up against a quality big man his own size. Advantage Georgetown, let's bet the farm! But wait...Fact: The line opened with OSU a one point favorite, and heavy Georgetown action has moved it to Georgetown +1. As we know, The Public is always wrong. Advantage OSU, let's bet the farm! But wait...Georgetown is the "hot" team, and that emotional win over North Carolina will get them on a roll to win the whole thing! Everytime I put on ESPN, I keep seeing more and more compelling information on why this team is going to do it! Yes! Let's get some action down on the Hoyas! But wait... ESPN is East Coast based, so they spend an inordinate amount of time covering teams from the East Coast. They've already used up the OSU stories when the Buckeyes were #1, so maybe all that press is just a clever trick to change my perception about this OSU team that has knocked back 21 straight wins. Call Antigua! Gimme the Buckeyes! But wait...

It just goes on and on. There's only one piece of information that I think has any relevance. Artie Lange from the Howard Stern said he was going to put 15 large on Georgetown. Anyone that listens to the Stern show knows that Artie is (and always will be) "The Iceman". As long as he doesn't change his mind at the last minute (which unfortunately, he has been known to do), OSU is a lock. The problem is there's just no way of knowing which way he went at the last minute. (By the way, he also likes the over in the Florida/UCLA game.) Take that for what it's worth...

Random Notes: Th' Legendary Shack Shakers latest release "Pandelirium" is really good. Horton Heat plays guitar on a few tracks, and his authoritative guitar tone takes the tracks he plays on up a notch. That's not to say that David Lee doesn't shine on the gypsy stuff they do so well. The songs overall are creative and have some depth past a first listen. I especially like "No Such Thing"... Bob and I went to see buzz band of the moment "Of Montreal" at the Beachland last week. It was like seeing the Human League mixed with early Pink Floyd. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. For me it's not, but the capacity crowd of 17-20 year olds sure liked it. The weird thing was the heavy psychadelic presentation with the crowd not appearing to have injested any drugs. It's like when that Peter Maxx look was co-opted by Madison Avenue to sell toothpaste in 1970. The one thing Bob and I agreed on is that some giant record company is going to swoop in, take the front guy, replace the entire band, and make some money. This time next year there will be a HUGE push in Rolling Stone/Spin/Entertainment Tonight/People/Popular Mechanics/Field and Stream/etc with that guy in a new $700 haircut. And they'll "move some units".