OBAMA-BILAS?

Anyway, earlier this week LeBatard attempted to engage Bilas (these are two fellow ESPN employees, mind you) in a racial conversation comparing Tyler Hansbrough and Michael Beasley. LeBatard seemed to be getting at the idea that there has not been a very good American-born white player in the NBA for years now (he cited Chris Mullin...I'd advise he check out Mike Dunleavy) and so shouldn't an NBA GM think twice before drafting Hansbrough.

However, LeBatard forgot with whom he was dealing. Bilas has a law degree and has obviously learned and practiced the finer points of deductive reasoning better than LeBatard. Mock court is a little more challenging than "PTI", after all. Anyway, there was an exchange that devolved from irritated to fractious to downright hostile. Bilas, who is extremely gracious when it comes to making himself available for interviews of all types, clearly considered this an utter and absolute waste of his time. Take a listen:

http://deadspin.com/378222/bilas-vs-le-batard-quien-es-mas-macho 

If you listened to Bilas teaming with Dick Enberg during the early rounds of CBS' tournament coverage, you know one thing. He's bright, prepared and insightful and has a passion for the game. Bilas never descends into the cult of personality coverage and he has the temerity to disagree with a popular notion. Hear me now and listen to me later: Bilas will be the next analyst for Final Four coverage for CBS as soon as Billy Packer retires or is shown the door, and I believe that will happen within the next two years.

Then Again, They Could Be Right

Great story from the SportsPickle, which purports to be The Onion of sports coverage:

http://www.sportspickle.com/features/volume7/2008-0409-notredame.html

Thanks to constantly tortured Notre Dame alum and buddy Matt "Ferris" Boler for sending that one to me.

Catholics on Ice

Notre Dame versus Boston College tomorrow night (ESPN, 7 p.m.) for the D-I national championship in hockey. I am STOKED. It's funny, Notre Dame in the Frozen Four. That was the same term we used to refer to many a women's quad in Lyons Hall.

You know how Notre Dame is supposed to be better in football but Boston College always beats them? Well, maybe it's time for a little reversal of roles on the ice. Our faithful reader Billy, who sends about two dozen of the best mixed CDs anyone could hope to receive each year, lives in Denver and was a high school hockey stud in Minneapolis. Hopefully he'll abandon his somewhat hermetically sealed ways and venture out to the Pepsi Center to provide us a report.

Riverwalk on the Wild Side

Final notes from the Men's Final Four...I may not be Skip Bayless, claiming every five minutes how well I know Bill Self, but I was lucky enough to be at his postgame party Monday night on one of the top floors of the Hilton Riverwalk. Make no mistake: I was not there because of who I am ("Who am I?" "You're nobody". "And who is he?" "He's somebody."...yet another classic Seinfeld moment), but rather because my excellent friend Mike McCollow (bro-in-law of the aforementioned Billy) is close with Self. In fact, they were both assistants at Oklahoma State once upon a time.

Anyway, it was a happy and very familial scene. Danny Manning was just reclining in a chair, chilling. Ronnie Chalmers was walking around proudly accepting pats on the back. One of my favorite people that I met was Tim Jankovich, the head coach at Illinois State who was until last year an assistant at KU. Great, great guy. As much of a fan as he is a coach, and very funny.

Another highlight was seeing the ravishingly babulous Julie Boeheim up close. Very Jaclyn Smith-ish. And not only is she beautiful, but talented:

http://hidden-valley-news.newslib.com/story/4992-3237717/ 

Jim Boeheim: Basketball Hall of Fame, and Overchicked Hall of Fame. And he knows it. And is smiling.

Austin's Power

Spent a chill-out day in Austin after the Final Four. Great place. I recommend having a margarita dockside at Harry's Hula Hut, tacos at Guero's on South Congress, and a late-night drink at the hipster swank Hotel San Jose, just down the street from Guero's. Also, if you are a runner, stop in at Run Tex and go for a run along Town Lake's most excellent dirt paths. Oh, and at sundown, hang out on the bridge on South Congress, because Austin proudly proclaims itself as the largest urban bat aviary. Very cool to see them all fly out from beneath the bridge.

Billy's Original Musiquarium

I've used this space before to extol the musical prowess of Billy H., who seemingly spends most of his non-working waking hours listening to iTunes and then making his friends "Best Of" CDs. I just received "BEST OF 2008, PART2" and I wanted to pass along some recommendations to you:

1) "Supernatural Superserious", by REM...This is the first REM tune I've wanted to turn up the volume on since "Near Wild Heaven" in, what, 1991? For about eight years REM and US were dueling it out as my favorite band in the world. Then, on September 10, 1996, the Athens foursome released "New Adventures in Hi-Fi". It wasn't a bad album, but it was just a marked dropoff from "Monster", which itself was a dramatic droppoff from "Automatic for the People", which is an outstanding album (and I like how, as the years have passed, people seem to recognize that "Nightswimming" and "Find The River" are the classics on that disc).

   Anyway, I remember listening to "New Adventures..." and being depressed. That date was also my 30th birthday and, listening to that album, I felt as if I was saying goodbye to REM's transcendence and to my youth. What a dope! Your 30s are great, but I thought I'd be bald and fat by the end of my 30s. Instead, I'm just insufferable and bitter...but I still have a great head of hair.

   Anyway, "Supernatural Superserious" is just a confident, energetic track. You can hear it in Stipe's voice. He knows they have a hit. It's like listening to Bono sing "Beautiful Day", after U2 had been irrelevant for awhile. I'm totally fired up.

(By the way, REM, Counting Crows, B-52s and Bob Mould have just released new albums...It's like the early '90s all over again. How long until Matt Pinfield starts showing up at midnight again on the MTV? And what ever happened to Kennedy, by the way? Anyone seen her?)

2) "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" ...by Vampire Weekend. The VW, a foursome from right in my 'hood at Columbia University, is all the rage on the campus circuit. Their music suggests that they listened to "Graceland" and Peter Gabriel solo albums A LOT during their formative years. If you like this, check out "A-Punk" as well.

3) "Stronger Woman"...by ??? Total chick anthem, and a terrific country-and-western tune. I won't tell you the name of the artist who sings it, because it's more fun if you guess. She's a big, big name that you don't always associate with country. But she's completely Taylor Swifted us on this tune. Give it a listen.

4) "Check Yes Juliet"...by We The Kings. Total emo band who would be bigger if only "The O.C." were still on the air. They sound like the composites of about four bands you already know, but it's a good tune.

5) "Poor Michael's Boat"...by Michael Olson. This is the kind of song that songwriters listen to and wish they had written. It'll never blare from anyone's speaker, but it has a timeless feel.

Thanks, Billy. Don't know what I'd do without you. Probably I'd still be listening to my four Indigo Girls albums all day long. And that would be (even more) pathetic.