My Picks For the Hectic Tournament

By Amir Ali Said

With the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament officially starting tonight I'd like to give my picks for the tournament. Actually, I'll give my temporary picks as of today. I won't finalize my bracket until Wednesday night. I'll start with the Midwest region. The Midwest is by far the toughest region. Unlike some sports analysts, I think Kansas won't make it to the final four. Instead, I've got Ohio St taking the Midwest region. I understand that Kansas is the number one overall seed but I don't think they'll make it to the final four. If Ohio St and Kansas don't make it to the final four, leave it up to Georgetown to make a run.

In the West region I have Syracuse going to the final four. I understand that Syracuse struggled heading into the last stages of the season. But I still believe Syracuse is a strong team and will be able to get through the teams in the South Region. But I think Syracuse is going to have to beat Gonzaga, Murray St. and Kansas St. Yes, I agree with ESPN analyst, Jay Bilas, who said that Murray St is going to Vanderbilt in the first round. Besides Syracuse, Kansas St or Butler could make it to the final four.

In the East Region I have Kentucky making it to the final four. I think they'll have to get through Texas, Cornell, and West Virginia. Kentucky should be a little happy though because of who they have to face until the Elite 8 matchup against West Virginia. West Virginia on the other hand doesn't have such a great deal; I think they'll face Missouri, Marquette and Kentucky. That's certainly not an easy lineup to make it to the final four. The deciding game will be in the Elite 8 when I think Kentucky will face West Virginia.

In the South region, I've got Villanova heading to the final four. For all those Duke fans, you don't deserve the number one seed, and I think Duke's going to lose in the 2nd round to Louisville. You can stop laughing now Pop. However, I think Louisville is going to lose the following game to Texas A & M after defeating Duke. I think Villanova has to go through Richmond, Baylor and Texas A & M. Then Villanova will be home free in the final four.

For the Championship game I've got Syracuse vs. Kentucky. I think that will be a tough and exiting game. With great guard and center play look forward to a shootout if this matchup comes true. Here are my picks, What are yours?

What Happen to the Storm?

By Amir Ali Said

Snow storm? What snow storm? Last time I checked there wasn't a flake of snow in Manhattan. But there was a good amount of snow in Brooklyn. This morning, it looked like a little slow plane in the middle of the road. But I never heard anything about it snowing in Brooklyn. I heard 4-5 inches in Manhattan. But this morning I didn't hear of any snow. Now, in Brooklyn the snow has decreased, in fact, I haven't seen snow in about four hours. Needless to say, its rather unfortunate that there wasn't a snow storm, or even a couple inches. Snow is mad cool. But their is a flip side.

To get the flip side of snow just go to Washington, D.C. right now. A blizzard hit! Villanova and Georgetown almost didn't play today because of the snow. I doubt anybody in Washington, D.C. likes snow at the moment. Then you could also check out Pennsylvania because they also got a good amount of snow. Hence, New York is very fortunate that they missed the snow storm.

A Tale Of Two Cities Update (Part 3)

By Amir Ali Said

I'm up to chapter 15 in Book Two and the story has only gotten deeper and better. I thought the story would get better, but boy is it taking a couple turns. After chapter 9, Dickens goes into the life of Charles Darnay. He's just been acquitted a couple chapters before. And he has interest in Miss Mannette. Problem is, two other men do. So that leaves you with a question, how's that going to work out? Me, I think somebody is going to disappear, I just have that movie mind-state. I don't think all three men can have an interest, without the others finding out. When they do, they'll be happy to eliminate any and all competition. But who?

Looking forward to the rest of Book Two and Literary Club next week, fuels the need to complete A Tale of Two Cities. It's such a great book, that keeps you interested during every page. Even when the writing gets out of hand, I still want to read more, because I know it'll only get better. This may very well be my favorite book, since I've never read a book like it. It's made me become a better writer and reader. I think this book will certainly help me in the long haul. If you haven't read or intend on reading A Tale of Two Cities, I can't stress it enough, please do.

A Tale Of Two Cities Update (Part 1)

By Amir Ali Said

A Tale of Two Cities is a great book. I've only read four chapters! I had to make an update on my reading. I'll probably have four chapter updates just for this book. It's extremely interesting. The writing is outstanding, seriously, I've never read a book like it. Plus, I feel like I'm reading an ancient artifact. A Tale of Two Cities was written in 1859, by Charles Dickens. I think this book will be a turning point in my writing and reading. I recommend this book to anybody! It's such a great book, you've got to check out. Well, time to go read some more.

The first four chapters are great. Dickens describes England and France at the time of this story. It's the year, 1775. Weeding through the first three chapters you notice a comparison between Paris and London, two prominent cities in England and France. The story of England and France is told mainly through one character, Mr.Jarvis Lorry. Lorry is an employee for Tellson's bank on a trip from England to France. I can tell you no more, or I would be giving some spoilers. But you should know that by the fourth chapter, the story really starts to pick up. Oh boy, I could read chapter four all day. Bottom line, read A Tale of Two Cities as soon as possible.

Return Of the Power Back

By Amir Ali Said

Today, Toby Gerhart announced he's entering into the NFL draft. My immediate thought was, he may be the key to the return of the power back. Gerhart is strictly power and a little bit of quickness/speed. I hadn't heard of Gerhart or seen him play until this year. But boy was I impressed when I saw him play vs Notre Dame this year. He literally led Stanford to a win over Notre Dame. He clearly dominated the game and Notre Dame's defense. Gerhart was running like a madman! Without elusiveness, just a little bit of speed/quickness and a lot of Power.

Coming into the NFL Draft, I think Gerhart is the definition of a Power Back. In fact, I think that's why he'll be drafted really high in the upcoming draft. Possibly late 1st round or early 2nd. He would be a great fit for a lot of rebuilding teams, like the Patriots. Or a team like that Buccaneers for the team to build an offense around. I have high hopes for Gerhart as a Pro running back and I don't expect to be let down. Gerhart has my full support, since I think he'll have an impact on the NFL as running back.

Historic Health Care Bill Passes

By Amir Ali Said

I stayed up this morning to watch the Senate vote on the historic health care bill. The bill was voted on at 7:30 in the morning on Christmas Eve! That's unheard of. However, the bill needed to be voted on. This health bill is historic for two reasons, there has been no health reform for sixty years and this is the first attempt at reform for sixty years. Now that this bill has been passed, I think only good will come out of this.

This was a great experience, watching the Senate vote on a historic bill. It felt good to watch history in the making. Its the first attempt at health care reform for sixty years. Since this bill has been passed, I believe more reforms are yet to come as a result of this health care reform.

BoSox Get Smacked To Begin Final Series

The Yankees smacked the Red Sox last night, 20-11. The Red Sox were losing since the first inning and tried their hardest to catch up. However, Yankee hitting would not stop. Every Yankee player scored one run or more except for Johnny Damon because he got hurt in the first inning. Hideki Matsui had a big impact on the game, with 7 RBI's and two three-run home-runs.

Pitching wasn't on for either team, it was a offensive game. Andy Pettitte gave up 7 runs to the Red Sox. After Pettitte, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte pitched shutout innings in the 6th and 7th innings. Then Sergio Mitre came into the game in the 8th, had a shutout inning, then proceeded to give up four runs in the 9th. There goes the 11 runs for the Red Sox. Red Sox pitching was absolutely horrible, 20 runs is way too much. It all started with Brad Penny, who gave up 8 runs in four innings! Then Michael Bowden came in the game in the 5th and gave up a three-run home-run to Matsui. After Matsui, Bowden gave up three more runs in the same inning. The following inning Bowden gave up three more runs. In the 7th, Bowden was taking out and Manny Declarmen was put in, Declarmen gave up one run and was taken out the following inning. After Declarmen, Takashi Saito came in the game, he pitched a shutout inning. However, Saito was taken out for Ramon Ramirez in the 9th inning. In the 9th, Ramirez gave up four more runs. 3 runs came off the bat of Matsui. Another run came in off of a Swisher double. So there's your ball game, 20-11, Yankees.

Last night was a good game to watch if you wanted to learn how to hit. Since both teams continued to score. However, the Yankees just scored more. The Yankees now have a 7 and a half game lead on the Red Sox. That is a subsantial lead heading into the final month of the baseball season before the playoffs.

Memphis Must Vacate 38 Wins

Memphis basketball is going to be forced to give up all 38 wins in the 2007-2008 season. Apparently there were a couple of NCAA violations. However, the NCAA doesn't plan on releasing their evidence during this investigation until Thursday. The basis of the NCAA investigation was to see if someone took the SAT for a player on the Memphis basketball team. All of this happened under coach John Calipari who has had this history in the past. In 1996, when Calipari was coaching at the University of Massachusetts they also had to give up their final four berth and their wins for the season. That incident happened because Marcus Camby had accepted about $28,000 from two sports agents.

The 2007-2008 season was already disappointing for me, since Memphis lost in the championship game to Kansas in overtime. But now this scandal comes out and makes it even worse. I'm really surprised and upset that Memphis basketball did this. That was a great team and doesn't deserve to be undermined by a scandal of this stature.

Favre Does It Again

Brett Favre is going to the Minnesota Vikings. Apparently, Vikings coach, Brad Childress, told a local news station this morning that Favre was a done deal. Then the news broke on SportsIllustrated.com. This is the second year in a row that Brett Favre has come out of retirement to play football. Last year Favre, came out of retirement for the Jets and this year he'll come out yet again, for the Minnesota Vikings.

Favre is 39 years old and he will turn 40 on October 10. Does Favre love the game that much? I just hope that Favre doesn't get badly injured, because he shouldn't be playing football in the NFL. The NFL is younger and quicker now, late hits are becoming the norm, and NFL players aren't going to go easy on Favre just because of his age. Favre needs to do superb, because I think he's messing up his legacy by playing at such an old age.

Yang Defeats Woods By Three Strokes

Tiger Woods lost to Y.E. Yang in the final major of the year. Woods lost by three strokes. This is the first time Woods has ever lost after leading in a major in the final round. Woods looked like himself at times today. However, he dropped two strokes before it came time for the back nine. On the back nine Woods reached 7 under followed by a bogey which allowed Yang to tie. After that, Woods went downhill. He dropped another stroke, while Yang gained two more strokes and defeated Tiger Woods. Yang won twice today because he's the first Asian-born player to win a major.