Monday Morning's Crab Cakes and Light Beer

The Swinging Bunt

Hansbrough = Beaker, the Muppet. The University of Maryland men’s hoops team kept their season alive with a thrilling hard fought home win over #3 North Carolina Saturday afternoon. After the final buzzer sounded in OT, fans rushed the floor, and somehow UNC All-American Tyler Hansbrough got lost in the shuffle and was right behind Gary during his post-game TV interview. Pretty funny.

Mush-Mon! Everyone needs a feel good story on a Monday morning to get a smile on your face and week off to a nice start. Well as you all know, first there was the Jamaican Bobsled Team that competed in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and was immortalized in the fabulous movie, “Cool Runnings.” Now, no lie, Newton Marshall, a resident of Jamaica, is currently competing in the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest Race… he is the first Jamaican Dog sledder! The ‘Mush-Mon’ jackets are too funny.

Emmitt’s time at ESPN is over! It came as a surprise to no one. ESPN has chosen not to renew the contract of the NFL’s All-Time leading rusher and the former Cowboy will no longer appear on the worldwide leader. Here’s a little compilation and an example of how Emmitt has made us all dumber. Apparently he’s really good at football and ‘dancing with the stars,’ but so bad at being a talking head on TV, that ESPN actually chose Keyshawn Johnson to stick around over him. For more, check out The Morning’s Final Thought.

Scanning the Blogosphere

The Schmuck Stops Here has all the latest from Orioles’ Spring Training in Fort Lauderdale.

Connolly’s Corner Sports Bar asks “Was it smart to give Brian Roberts a four-year, $40 million extension?”

Camden Chat says O’s CF Adam Jones is a likely breakout candidate.

MLB Trade Rumors tells us “Technically Brian Roberts Could Be Traded.”

SI via RotoExperts.com identifies O’s relief pitcher Chris Ray as a ‘player on the verge of an explosive campaign.’

Pro Football Talk: “Ware says Ray wants to ‘Wear the Star’,” and “Jets Zeroing in on Ravens Linebackers.”

Ravens Insider has the inside scoop from Indianapolis at the NFL Combine, including former Terp Darius Heyward-Bey’s impressive performance.

Terrapins Insider: “Dealing with an ‘NBA Frontline’,” “Halftime decision propels Terps,” “Vasquez grows into triple-double.”

Tracking the Terps has notes from the big win over North Carolina and the Sun’s story on future Terp, Jordan Williams.

Recruiting Report has all the latest on potential signee Lance Stephenson via Adam Zagoria’s blog from New York, and Jordan Williams and James Padgett, two guys who have already committed to Gary for next season.

The Official Caps Site has all the Great 8’s comments after getting under the skin of Syd the Kid.

D.C. Sports Blog has more on the Ovechkin-Crosby tussle.

Faceoff has a “Postscript from Georgetown’s upset of Maryland,” on the lacrosse field.

Fan IQ shows us the 15 worst basketball uniforms ever worn, from college to the NBA to the always fashionable ABA.

CMS Video of the Day

You can always count on UConn head coach Jim Calhoun for an entertaining post-game press conference. Even when he isn’t the instigator he makes for a great clip every time.

The Morning’s Final Thought

Haha Emmitt Smith, hilarious — from Awful announcing… their Top-10 Emmittisms:

“Not only does he have the NFC East record for touchdowns, but also the team record.”
“Wes Worker is a possession receiver that make things happen.”
“The NFC West is probably one of the weakest conferences in the whole NFC.”
“The leadership definitely have to come from the leaders.”
“I think it’s his self-confidence in himself that make him so confident when it get down into the crunch time.”

10. “Last year there was a lot of things the Colts had to address. They couldn’t stop the run, and all those. That was one of the biggest things they had to address.”
9. “You have to have the personality to match up with the Patriots.”
8. “He’s giving them all the confidences they need. He giving them the confidence that he need.”
7. “They do a very good job of flying around the Football field and carousing the Football carrier.”
6. “Don’t worry about the game you just won or the team that we just blew out. Uhhh… blown. Blown out. Let’s think about what we need to do going forward, and they had blown out.”
5. “Eli Manning has been given the rites of patches.”
4. “This kind of inconsistency, against a team like New England, will get you completely blowed out.”
3. “You cannot change the stripes of a leopard.”
2. “Go to Arizona, sharp as a whistle, and do some finishing touches, so we can go down in the Super Bowl and play our best football of the whole entire season.”
1. “The strength of the Patriots, their offense, got debacled.”