The 2009 Super Bowl Extravaganza

Since I can’t seem to come up with anything concrete for this Super Bowl Extravaganza column, I have decided to offer you a series of completely random thoughts and observations. As always, some things will be quite specific … others, well, probably won’t make much sense. I’ll wrap it up with the final “Fun Picks from The Fun Car.” As always, enjoy the ride.

• You know you have a gambling problem when you bet on … the coin toss; the over/under on the number of flashbulbs popping during the opening kick; which hat/shirt combo Mike Tomlin is going to wear; how many players with visible dreads under their helmet will see the field in the first half; the time the clock reads when John Madden makes his first Tom Brady reference; the time the clock reads when John Madden mentions that Brett Farve gives him butterflies; how many times Steelers manchild linebacker LaMarr Woodley picks up Kurt Warner and throws him; and last but no least, the over/under on how many whiskeys it appears Bruce Springsteen has had by the halftime show.

• Speaking of John Madden, I’ve always been quite entertained by him providing rather colorful color analysis. Know why? Since he doesn’t offer anything of any value, I can actually just watch the game and laugh every once in a while when I catch a, “You know, Al, with that offside penalty, Kurt Warner now only has to manage a 3rd-and-3 instead of 3rd-and-8.”

• One thing I know I’m looking forward to: Watching how the Pittsburgh secondary covers, handles, and tries to take Larry Fitzgerald out of the game. That’s one of the best single match-ups that I’ve seen on paper in a while.

• One thing I know I’m not looking forward to: hearing Madden and Al Michaels bring up the Kurt Warner for the Hall of Fame debate. That has to win this year’s “Please, God, Make it Stop” story before the Super Bowl. There’s always one.

• That reminds me, something about the two-week gap leading up to this year’s game is different for me. I spend, um, a good amount of time in my room – where I feature over-the-air TV without the convenience of a cable hookup. The one bedroom in the place with no cable. Turns out that’s a beautiful thing … without Chris Berman, Trey Wingo, Chris Mortensen and the gang, I feel suddenly smarter. And by the way, Trey Wingo is definitely working his way up the “Most Annoying Anchors” list. Berman will forever be on top and that’s not debatable.

• Everyone always gets all giddy over the Super Bowl commercials. Last year, there were about two good ones. I find myself paying attention less and less the past three or four years. See, the advertising firms and writers have actually outdone themselves. Ads have gotten too good for the other 364 days of the year. Either that or I watch way too much TV. Not sure.

• Is Barack Obama going to host the pregame show, then sing the National Anthem, followed by flipping the coin toss, booting opening kick, and finally putting on some pads after halftime to become the hero who wins the game as Arizona’s QB after Warner gets hurt? Well, he is quite the savior, right?

(Side note: completely unrelated to the Super Bowl, that comment about Obama reminded me of when I flicked past NBC’s “Meet The Press” last Sunday morning. I love how, along with the Obama family’s constant appearances on “Entertainment Tonight” and the like, political pundits are now providing analogies about our country’s interrogation guidelines with the TV series “24.” I heard it with my own two ears. This clown said something to the effect of, “Well, I think we have gone away from techniques like Jack Bauer.” What? Are you kidding me?)

• Since the game is in Tampa, do you think the NFL arranged a little surprise to commemorate the first “overfeated” team in history, the 1976 Buccaneers at 0-14, and invite the 2008 Detroit Lions to join them on the field together before kickoff? What a collection that would be.

FUN PICKS FROM THE FUN CAR
(Sheridan’s Odds; USAToday.com 1/29)

Cardinals (+7) over Steelers (Sunday, 6:15 p.m. ET, NBC)
If I am allowed to tell the truth, I’m taking the points in this one simply because I want to root for Arizona. I can only hope they throw in Fitzgerald’s direction no less than 20 times, throw in trick play or two, and the Cardinal defense adds a minimum of two turnovers. Seriously, though, there is a much better chance of my grandma streaking across the 40-yard line during the second quarter. Go Cards.

House Call

I won’t do this often, and haven’t done it yet, but I have to start off with a few house notes. Saying that makes it sound important … “house notes.”

First off, thanks to anyone who is actually reading this, coming back, commenting and all that good stuff. I would appreciate, particularly for the ButDogs crew of people, passing around the link if you feel it’s worth a damn to read. And yes, I request that in a selfish way. So what? I say that mostly because between pretty much now and the end of March, The Fun Car will be featuring pretty much a ButDogs love fest. Not much else going on.

Second, I will be going to a Monday-Thursday schedule for columns … simply because without football, well, just not as much that people care about. And frankly, considering I have about a dozen readers (I hope), twice a week seems about right.

(Side note: The other reason is that personally, I have to figure out what I’m doing with my life. Suggestions are welcome, and encouraged. At this point I’d consider many options, including babysitting or being a nanny.)

Parents Weekend

So the Christmas gift I gave to my parents turned out to be a pretty solid idea, if I do say so myself. I mention that because usually I’m not this good with gifts. Mom and dad came to Indy to witness Butler’s utter pounding of UW-Milwaukee on Saturday – supposedly the second or third “best” team in the Horizon League.

There’s a few things to talk about regarding the game, but first a few more important musings. I’ll start with suggesting catching a game at Hinkle in Section 29, Row AA. That’s front row of the east side balcony, pretty much right behind the hoop … solid vantage point, and considering the score, it was a great perk to listen to Brad Stevens do his thing on the sidelines. I vote his first-half technical to be the highlight of the season, thus far.

Even though there was a game going on, about half the time, mom was reaching into her purse to get the camera phone cranking. The worst moment? When she leaned over to my dad to make some comment – pretty standard – right when Gordo threw down the alley-oop from his buddy Shelvin. So much disappointment when the crowd blew up and they had no idea what happened, but I told them it’s OK … they’ll be doing that for the next four years, so just get used to it. I'll do my best to not go on and on about my boy Gordo again, but I'll just say that he could very well be the best all-around defender I have ever seen on a college b-ball court in my short lifetime.

A few more serious thoughts about the performance by the ButDogs. One, don’t get too excited about the performances by Shawn Vanzant and Grant Leiendecker. Just put the brakes on that one. It was kind of fun to see, in a strange way, but personally I know I don’t really want to see that again. Unless, of course, they’re up 25 in the second half. I’ll put it this way: My old man had never seen Vanzant play in person before, maybe once or twice on TV, and his direct quote to me in the middle of the game was, “He’s kind of spazzy, out of control the way he moves all the time.” Well said, dad. But I admit the depth was good to see in a pretty non-important kind of way.

Another thought, it has been brought up a few other places (most recently by ESPN’s Andy Katz) that the ButDogs now have to worry about complacency. That’s the type of stupid comment you make when you’re a national writer and don’t know much about the team, coach, players or program. It’s the type of comment you make when you’re writing a “Saturday Wrap-Up” column and you just need to find something short and “meaningful” to say about Butler. Gimme a break. Has that ever been a problem in the past? Even if they lose one or two games in the conference, will that matter? No. And no again. Butler’s success or failure will not come down to complacency. Please.

That will about wrap it up for another cheerful Monday. Tune on on Thursday for a Super Bowl Extravaganza and feel free to comment or email me at thefuncarblog@yahoo.com with anything useless or somewhat funny. Cheers.

Reality show special

So a couple weeks ago, myself and a friend were having, um, the type of conversation we normally have. You know, excessive tangents and usually quite crude analogies and such. We may or may not talk about women every now and then. But I feel like I should also say that he is a minority. Awkward silence after the PC term …

I mention that piece of it because, as a white guy, having a true friend who can just as soon make degrading comments about my heritage is something you can’t really compare anything to. I make Mexican jokes, he comes back with something revolving around kilts and potatoes. Two white guy friends could never do this. And yes, if you are a follower of this column, this is the same guy who has the bagpipe ring tone for me.

This particular conversation we somehow ended up on the topic of reality TV shows, something about just the general awfulness of it all. Don’t get me wrong, I have been sucked into a few myself over the years, but most of them are there solely to make fun of. Well, doing our racial joke routine yet again, we started thinking up reality shows with overtones … funny ones.

You tell me, what could be more realistic than taking a “typical” bar-scene-type white guy – decked out in his khaki shorts, t-shirt and flip flops – and dropping him in the middle of South Central L.A..? Think of the possibilities here people. Having a true wing man in the ghetto, he could be adopted by a small group and taught the ropes … with obvious tests along the way, hoping to gain street cred.

Similar scenario, take a middle age Mexican gentleman who doesn’t speak much English and toss him in the classic “cubical office” with mostly white guys and ladies. He would be a mid-level Account Rep type, having to go through several types of business meetings while trying to overcome all the stereotypes. And the catch could be that, his prior manual labor skills somehow save the day when the building endures a somewhat minor disaster. Eduardo comes through!

I could go on and on, but I really think it’s worth looking into. Somehow the producers could twist the teases and themes to revolve around “America finding its true identity” so that advertisers would flock to it. Viewers would come by the millions to see something they have never seen before. If anyone knows someone at the networks, feel free to pass along my name and they can thank me later.

Big Weekend

Anyone remember what I said about Butler on Monday? Maybe I was right about something. Yet again Thursday night, the ButDogs were nice to Wisconsin Green-Bay by not showing up for the first half, eventually pulling away 68-59. Its kind of like a cat who finds a mouse and gets him trapped, but just kinda plays with it for an hour before actually killing it.

I wasn’t at Hinkle last evening, but I sent a few texts with my free season ticket partner – one of them being about six minutes into the second half when every Butler fan knew exactly what was going on. My text read: “See what happens when your best three players are the only ones who shoot? Genius!”

The ButDogs now have a two-game cushion in the loss column in the current standings of the vaunted Horizon League. I’m willing to say that this one is over, folks. Even if Butler loses two conference games, there is no way anyone else is running the table. Try to argue otherwise.

Butler’s little stepbrother, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is scheduled to show up at Hinkle for a 2 p.m. tip tomorrow in a contest of the top two in the conference standings. There is only one important thing about this game: I was tipped off a few weeks ago by my buddy at the Horizon League Network that UWM features a JuCo transfer who goes by the name of “Big Thunder.” I expect a cheer for the fella. He’s listed at 6-7, 340 and apparently is pretty soft on his feet. And he even chucks 3s (22-59 on the season). Now this is going to be something to see. Photos to come on Monday, stay tuned.

The Devil appears

OK, no more Tim Tebow. I get it. First column on Friday that didn’t have a comment on it … safe to say the handful of readers may actually agree on something. So I’ll move on.

While sitting face up at the bar on Saturday night, I was introduced to Tucker Max – an extremely offensive, distasteful and hilarious writer. Apparently I’m way behind the curve on this, but supposedly his narratives on his own sexcapades are really true. True on not, I sat there with my buddy’s iPhone to may face giggling for a solid five minutes.

We then proceeded to have a couples glasses of The Devil’s Piss, as Max calls it, which also goes by Red Bull-Vodka. Simply put, the stuff will give you the worst hangover possible … but that’s why I don’t drink it anymore, for the most part. Well I did, and that leads me to Sunday.

I’ve become ashamed of hangovers, but once again, football saved me. Gambling aside, those were two kind of surprisingly classic games to watch. And once and for all – finally, I’m on the Arizona bandwagon. If they’ll still let me on.

Last night, after Troy Polamalu went the other way for six to seal the deal for Pittsburgh, I was pretty convinced that I was watching the best collective defense I have ever seen in my somewhat brief football viewing career. I don’t enjoy admitting it, but I think it’s better than the Bears’ D two years ago – and I was only three years old when the ’85 Bears were doing their thing. I was convinced after that pick, but it had more to do with the performance of their secondary as a whole, especially in the second half. They were laying people out, even the corners. To me that’s a pretty good sign.

Put that on top of seeing Larry Fitzgerald be a complete freak against the Eagles, putting him on a completely different level than any of his peers or dudes that attempt to cover him, and it turned into a day definitely worth remembering. How could you not love to root for the Cardinals? It kind of makes you feel like a kid again, you should try it.

There were several times in the fourth quarter where you could just see that Arizona was going to win that game, and none were more apparent than the visual display of Brian Dawkins getting run over multiple times by, um, Tim Hightower. Dawkins used to not fall backwards, be he was the one falling that way on Arizona’s clinching touchdown. It was like you could literally see the old team surrendering to the team of destiny. What classic viewing, I tell you.

And when Fox came back from commercial, Joe Buck opened by asking, “Was there ever a drive that could potentially put a guy in the Hall of Fame?” If it made sense to respond to a question with a statement, this would be a perfect time to say, “You’re exactly right, Joe.” Think of Kurt Warner a couple years ago in a Giants uniform. Could you ever have seen this happening? And more important, why haven’t we seen Fox make cuts to Matt Leinart standing on the sidelines? So many things to love about this team. Stay tuned the next couple weeks for more Super Bowl fun.

Second half ButDogs

As painful as it was to see Butler chuck an ungodly amount of 3s in the first half at UIC on Saturday, most thrown up there by guys you’d rather not shoot them, this team just continues to show that its talent is too much to handle in this conference – even when they play like a high school team for a half.

I’m starting to just appreciate this team for what they are – an extremely raw and talented bunch who seems to rise the occasion more often than not. But also a team who is going to make stupid mistakes and really frustrate you at times. It officially makes it the most interesting team to watch that maybe we've ever seen at Butler.

And I can’t help but say that my man crush on “Gordo” continues to grow. You know what I’ve realized the past few weeks? When I watched him play a handful of times last year at Brownsburg, he was nowhere near this good. He didn’t even come close to dominating and taking over games like he’s doing right now. I’m the first one to admit that I never expected him to create so many problems on defense while making you say “wow” with his inside-outside game on the offensive end. But that’s exactly what he’s doing.

And I feel like Shelvin Mack needs some type of nickname or description. Any thoughts? On a relative off night, the kid posted 18 points, eight boards and eight assists on Saturday. And Gordo just keeps taking his glory. Something like “The Shadow,” but cooler than that. Or maybe the two of them could just be Batman and Robin. Let’s see where this goes.

Say it ain't so, Timmy T.

For as good as Saturday afternoons in the fall usually turn out, it never seems to fail that the college football season always just fades off … lost, just like every other sport, in the domination by the NFL and its take-no-prisoners empire. End of the regular season, eight teams fighting for two playoff spots, and then just a week later it’s pure chaos. And you want me to watch or care about bowl games?

It’s much like the 5-10, 325-pound, middle-age white guy at the China buffet who can overshadow any other face-stuffer in the place. When everyone else is done, he’s going back for one more plate of egg rolls, pot stickers and chicken on a stick. Damn it, that’s what he came for, and he’s going to put it away. The NFL is what people came for, and when it comes down to crunch time, that’s what we are going to consume in mass amounts.

And you know what else? It sucks. I wish it wasn’t that way. We all know there’s only one way to change that, either a six or eight team playoff, but that’s not even worth discussing here. This is more about a realization I have had since the college season disappeared. We’ll wrap it up with my Conference Championship weekend picks.

Bowling over

Something sticks out like a sore thumb, and I know I’m probably not the first one to say it: When Tim Tebow announced that he’s coming back for his senior year, it was some of the worst sports news I have heard in quite some time. I didn’t really know where to put it on the list, but I’m thinking that it has to be right below Jordan’s final comeback with the Wizards. For different reasons mostly.

After listening to Fox play-by-play guru Thom Brennaman rave about Tebow for a solid 15-minute stretch of the National Title Game, I sat there and thought if I were a first time viewer or didn’t know much about him (which is almost not humanly possible, I know), I’d think he was some type of prophet or something. THE SINGLE GREATEST HUMAN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAS EVER SEEN, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN.

But, much more importantly, what the hell is going to happen next season? How will the talking heads possibly cover him? Where is this going to lead? Is he going to get his own reality show? Are we all going to start turning to Gainesville, Fla. when we pray? There are so many questions, all of them I wish I didn’t have to ask.

And you know what else? Staying at Florida was the dumbest decision Tebow could have made. If he comes out this season, someone would be dumb enough to take a third-round flyer on the kid. He would go through one training camp as a QB, then get moved to H-back or tight end and that will be that. Instead, he’ll get exposed even more as an NFL prospect. Good call, Timmy T. There is almost nothing good that can come from this entire situation. The truth of the matter is that in two years, nobody will even care who he is.

Meanwhile, speaking of not really caring, Michigan’s freshman YouTube sensation Sam McGuffie has gotten homesick (from Texas) and is transferring out. There is no need to pile on the kid, but since he had a bunch of no-talent lineman in front of him, he got his bell rung quite often this season. That ended with three concussions … so is it homesick, or headsick?

Either way, I’m not even sure if it matters. What does matter is that Michigan’s non-existent defensive coordinator from last season, Scott Shafer, resigned. He was quoted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg as saying, “I take full responsibility for the demise of where Michigan’s program is at this time.” I can’t even chew on that right now.

FUN PICKS FROM THE FUN CAR
(Sheridan’s odds; USAToday.com 1/16; Home team in caps)

Eagles (-3.5) over CARDINALS (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on Fox)
You know it’s a bad thing when your first thought about a game is, “How did these two teams even make it here in the first place?” I’m not sure, in my relatively short gambling career, if I’ve ever been more flustered by a game. And what should you normally do in that situation? Take the points. But nope, not here. Not in The Fun Car. I think I’ll just call it “Opposite Sunday.” The thing is, I’m pretty sure I see this one being close to a blowout either way, so I’m picking the team I think has the better chance to blow the other out. Good thinking? Probably not, but I’m not exactly feeling good about myself after last weekend. I think there is a decent enough chance that Philly comes out and gets a few quick defensive stops by blitzing Kurt Warner until he cries, maybe a defensive score, and a couple long plays from Donovan to DeSean. Light it up!

STEELERS (-1.5) over Ravens (Sunday, 6:30 ET on CBS)
I suppose I should just keep betting against the Ravens and hope they lose at some point. But seriously, I love the Steelers here. Maybe even in a big way, such as winning by 14 or 21 points. Listen, for all of you that didn’t watch how the Titans marched the ball on a relatively tired Raven defense last week, and didn’t see how the Steelers are finally healthy on offense with a balanced attack and Willie Parker making a difference again – open your eyes. I also noticed something else a bit surprising … I’ve never been a huge Big Ben fan (although I don’t dislike him), but he was throwing a heck of a deep ball against the Chargers. He threw a handful of deep routes right on the money – really impressive tosses, and I think he will connect on one or two of those again. Write it down, take the Steelers and thank me later. Cheers.

Moving Down Under

Does anyone understand how you know when you’ve not had a job for way too long? It’s when twice in one day, you get separate emails from separate friends saying apply to this right here.

That could be the entire thought for the day, I could just leave it at that, but hey – I’ve got nothing better to do, other than apply to The World’s Greatest Job. And let’s be honest, you know and I know that I’ll be sending some materials to somebody important.

Funny thing is, and one of the guys who sent it to me already knew, I’ve stayed on an island about a quarter mile from where this “Great Barrier Reef Media Dude” would be posting up. The gig is on Hamilton Island, which my catamaran pulled up to for a few hours one afternoon. Everyone gets around on golf carts … it’s the most touristy spot in the tropical fantasy of the Whitsunday Islands off the northeast coast of Australia.

This little stop during the greatest five-month span of my life “studying abroad” in Sydney (early ’04) has led me to this moment, where destiny could lead me back there. Think about it, what a Hollywood narrative that would be. It’s the opposite of “Castaway” where I would just be livin’ the dream, after getting tossed from a career covering high school sports in the middle of Indiana. How does this not work out for me?

OK, now that that’s settled, let’s get on to some Big Ten buckets. Essentially, I offer some observation from afar … I’ve watched a handful of games, caught parts about every team, and this is really the first year in quite a while where I’ve had some interest in the conference.

Much like in football, Big Ten hoops has been noticeably below average for an extended period of time. And b-ball can’t survive a bad product the way football can – just ask the Illini, where despite being 14-2, they haven’t been able to fill Assembly Hall for most of the season. And the terribly constructed Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., has been a melting pot for pure stink all season and IU has shut down the upper tank, I’ve heard. But you can be sure all those mouth breathers will be back next season with the Hooisers’ top five class coming in.

Looking at the standings and all the team records is a little bit of a tease, which I could make an analogy for that would probably be inappropriate. I’m not even close to being sold on Illinois, Ohio State, Penn St., and even Wisconsin somewhat. Not to mention Michigan, who despite some really sexy wins, still seem to not show up sometimes (Re: overtime win over Indiana).

The A-Rod Award for “Most disappointing in big games” goes to Purdue, who really just has been disappointing all around. But I still think my guy Matt Painter can turn this thing around if they get healthy and lose the “We think we’re better than we are” attitude by the tourney. I like Painter … he’s really one of the few that can pull off the glossy slicked back look. I respect that.

Which brings me to the two teams I see as the front runners so far – the two scratch golfers who aren’t getting any strokes. One is a mainstay, Michigan State, but the sleeper is the Go-phers (long ‘o’) and the one and only Tubby Smith. If you think the guy can’t coach, you’re wrong. If they can win some close games down the stretch, I just like the way they play from the little snips I’ve seen.

Here is the other thing I’m really starting to be impressed by in the Big Ten: the coaches. Being a maize and blue guy, I can’t help but start to develop some feelings for John Beilein. I know Iowa sucks, but I watched most of that game Sunday (and unexpected part of the 36 hours of viewing pleasure) and Michigan’s zone defense is kinda fun to watch. That’s not to mention the aforementioned Smith and Painter, to go along with Tom Izzo, Bo Ryan, the golden brown toned Tom Crean, and Thad Matta. That’s leaving out Mr. High Pitch at Illinois, who is a decent coach himself (just can’t recruit). What about Todd Lickliter? Hmmm … not exactly sold on him.

But that’s a pretty good list of coaches, right? I’d put that up against any conference, but I think the Big East would take ‘em partly due to shear numbers. The talent in the Big Ten still needs to get better, which it’s starting to, but better coaches help attract that. Especially when they’ve got nice hair like Painter, a nice tan like Crean, and solid dance moves like Ryan.

Lots of viewing pleasure

This past weekend, I went to my brother’s apartment on the north side of Chicago for 36 hours of Sony Bravia NFL Playoff Viewing, and a few libations as well. Sony didn’t sponsor that lead to today’s Fun Car (I’m not quite there yet), but if the game is shot on a Sony, shouldn’t you be watching it on a Sony?

I say yes … and we were. Fifty-two inches of goodness, to be exact, and it was literally a two thirds upright position for the better part of that 36 hours. We did leave to go out Saturday night, but that was the exception to the rule.

Several comments and questions were thrown out, obviously, and the things discussed ranged from my brother literally conversing with James Brown during that Sony promo, to how short and squatty the Giants’ offensive line really is, to how unbelievably hot the brunette from "Gary Unmarried" is. Who is she? There's no research department here.

(Detour: Meanwhile, I went 0-4 on my bets and for my first and only official meltdown of the season, at the worst possible time and the worst possible weekend. I’m not losing cold hard cash, it’s just a rather expensive season-long pool. Yeah, that almost makes me feel better about it. I even went against my Arizona pick in last Wednesday’s column. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m just a dope. It was just a kick to the face really.)

One of the better conversations revolved around the odd torso shape of Ray Lewis, who is sporting a bit of a belly now at 34 years old. That got me thinking the Middle Linebacker Belly was more of a trend rather than just Ray.

Let’s think about it. Being holed up here in Indy, the first guy who came to mind was Gary Brackett. That is the shortest and pudgiest NFL linebacker I’ve personally ever seen, both in pads and out of pads. Back in my valet parking days, the guy stepped out of his SUV and I wouldn’t have know the difference if Marlin Jackson wasn’t getting out of the Escalade behind him. Seriously, I’m 5-9 and I was eye to eye with Brackett, and my gut was not much bigger.

Then, watching the Giants-Eagles snooze fest, I was reminded of the little pouch that Antonio Pierce is carrying. Is three a trend? And is there any explanation for this, other than the fact that they eat burritos at 3 a.m. a couple times a week? More important, add to the list if you think you have a linebacker guilty of this infraction.

Mojo Risin’

If you’ve ever seen the episode of “Family Guy” where Peter gets his own theme music, then this will make more sense. But still, don’t you think that some things just need theme music?

I can’t figure out why, but every once in a while, the process of doing a task has reminded me of a certain song … and it thus becomes theme music. This morning, I went online to check out the college hoops rankings this week and went to find the ButDogs at No. 17 in the AP and No. 18 in the Coaches’ Poll.

Then it hit me. The Doors have put out some classics, but this was a perfect fit for hearing Jim Morrison in the background, starting low and quiet into the crescendo …

“Mo-jo ri-sin’ … keep the mojo risin’ … mo-jo ri-sin’ … keep on risin’ … MO-JO RI-SIN’! … KEEP ON RI-SIN’! …RISIN’ RISIN’!”

No, I’m not on any psychedelics today. But yes, going to check the polls to see the ButDogs creep their way up now has its own theme music.

The only game I’ve missed all season was last Saturday’s “What the hell was that?” showing against Detroit, yet the ButDogs escaped at home. Just one of those games that doesn’t look good on paper, which frankly, most of the people voting only see most games on paper.

And you know, that’s exactly why the top-25 really doesn’t mean squat. How did that ranking work out for Butler last year? Got them a 7-seed. And that didn’t matter either. But, what I will say is that the ranking is one of the best things for the program. They can do things like have Brad Stevens ask in a radio commercial if the reason you like Butler basketball is because of “the consistent top-25 ranking.”

But on a more serious note, a top-25 ranking legitimizes a mid major program. If they can stay there consistently, which the ButDogs now have for the past two-plus years, then it puts them on a different level. It helps recruit a different kind of player … don’t kid yourself if you think “The Butler Way” is the top reason Shelvin Mack, Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard came to play at Hinkle.

After this season, pretty much no matter how deep this team goes in the tourney, you can put them right there with Gonzaga as the class of college basketball outside the power conferences. And I’m just using that as a classification, not in a demeaning way.

Tomorrow I’ll change it up a little and talk some Big Ten hoops and we’ll see what else. Trying to stick on the Monday-Wednesday-Friday, but man, sometimes the day just gets away from me.