An email that in no way alludes to the NBA’s blocking of a trade

The following is an email I sent to the NBA Store in response to a promotion I received about a sale on all NBA-related items:

Making a racket over my bracket, or UConn is a bunch of dirty cheaters

Many people can claim their NCAA Tournament brackets are trash. I, however, can back that up.

According to the ESPN Tournament Challenge, my second bracket ranks in 5,732,547th place, leaving me in the bottom 3.23 percentile. Sure, I’m not in actual last place, but I’d hate to see the people who are worse off than my second bracket. I likely lead only the likes of People Who Intentionally Picked All the Top Seeds to Lose in the First Round; People Who Died Before Filling Out a Bracket and Therefore Have Zero Points; Monkeys/Chickens or Other Animals Who Select Winners; and Aaron Saylor.

Maybe the best basketball shot I’ve ever seen

It’s only been a few hours since Jay Cutler’s knee (or heart, depending on who happens to be talking) quit on him, helping lead my beloved Bears to a 21-14 loss in the NFC Championship.

You’ll excuse me, then, if I need a little pick-me-up, particularly form the world of sports.

Maybe so, James

Sometime before 9:30 p.m. Thursday, LeBron James caused a seismic shift in the NBA.

Sure, with James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Miami now has a better shot at winning in 2010-11 than the team did this year, but LeBron’s signing will be even more far reaching.

UK fans feeling Blue this Easter

The honeymoon lasted a year.

Last April, John Calipari arrived in Lexington a coach anointed a savior by fans starving for basketball relevance.

And with players leaving for the NBA just days after the team fell short of the Final Four, it’s important to realize today’s date.

Today is Good Friday.

The savior is gone.

The Syracuse Conundrum

Let’s call it The Syracuse Conundrum.

As I review my NCAA brackets, I can’t actually picture Syracuse making it to the Final Four, but when I scan over the region’s other possibilities, no one stands out. Unless the NCAA makes a sudden rule change, someone has to represent the region, meaning Syracuse or a lesser seed will be playing in Indianapolis.