Two NCAA Finals were contested on this day in history, and two gravity-defying superstars were named the tournaments’ Most Outstanding Players:

3/24/74
N.C. State 76, Marquette 64
The Wolfpack finished off the inevitable on this night in 1974, drubbing Marquette in the NCAA Final in what seemed like a formality after their semi-final conquest of the mighty UCLA Bruins, winners of the last seven NCAA championships and nine of the last ten. N.C. State was led by the Skywalker, David Thompson, one of the true pioneers of the above-the-rim game, he of the 48-inch vertical leap, he of the stupid-fly Pony’s, he of the “look I invented the alley oop so back yourself up when you talk to me fool.” Thompson scored 28 against the Bruins, and then 21 in the final to pace the Wolfpack over Marquette and their All-American superstar, Maurice Lucas. For his efforts, the Skywalker was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. One year later, he would be the first pick of the NBA Draft, and two years later, he would face off with Dr. J in the final of the first and arguably greatest slam-dunk competition at the ABA All-Star Game in Denver. Over three decades later, Thompson’s number 44 remains the only number retired in N.C. State men’s basketball history.

3/24/80 – Louisville 59, UCLA 54
This was Larry Brown’s first season with the Bruins, a team that was not expected to even make it to the tournament, let alone the finals. Meanwhile, Louisville was a powerhouse in 1980 and dominated the tournament, led by the Doctors of Dunk – Rodney McCray and Dr. Dunkenstein himself, Darrell Griffith. Griffith won the Outstanding Player award after putting on an aerial show in the final, scoring 23 of his team’s 59 points and landing some wicked slams over UCLA’s star duo of Kiki Vandeweghe and Rod Foster. In the NBA draft that year, Griffith would go second to the Jazz, after Golden State’s top-choice blunder of the great Joe Barely Cares.

3/18
Decisions, decisions…
Large runs down Saturday’s boxing action and its plethora of dubious decisions.

Birthday Birthday
A distinguished crew of born-todays, including Plimp, Sledge, the Wicked Pickett and the 22nd (and 24th) President of the United States.

Birth of a Chevy Nation
A Large rant on the ubiquitous “Our Country” Chevy ads currently marring the NCAA Tournament. “The ads now feel to me like this large wink-wink sales pitch to the red states – ‘this country it belongs… to folks like you and me’ – and we all KNOW who those folks are. They’re not black or Latino or Asian or Jewish or, perhaps most emphatically, gay. They’re man’s men and women’s women, white Republicans with their hats and their trucks and their unbearable nostalgia for a monochromatic past that never actually existed.”

3/19
And we’re back
Unsilent raves about Saturday’s action in the tourney. “It was as if somewhere in Indiana Myles Brand rose from his coffin to flip the switch on the second round. On the third day there was action, and it was good.”

K.O.W. – The Casablanca Clouter
For our Knockout of the Week, we turn to the great French champion, Marcel Cerdan, and his one-round destruction of Jose Ferrer in 1942.

Nitti Gritty
The anniversary of the suicide of infamous Capone-era gangster, Frank Nitti, who is among other things the nick-namesake of Flyers goalie, Antero Nittymaki.

3/20
Super Tuesday
A slew of born-today’s, led by champion wood-chopper David Foster and champion femme fatale, Pamela Harriman.

Pawns in the Game
A review of Michael Weinreb’s new book Kings of New York, which follows a championship high school chess team from Brooklyn through a tumultuous season. “…there’s a lot to be learned about chess culture in this book, from the long shadow still cast by Bobby Fischer to the absolutism of the Elo ratings system to the rigors of the Washington Square hustling scene to the threat that the popularity of the high-stakes poker boom poses to the chess world at large.”

3/21
Redemption on the Lost Saturday
Unsilent continues his the tale of his wild Saturday in transit, just one man trying to make it back to D.C. and catch some basketball action on the way.

Le Noble Art
Our Parisian correspondent, Madsear, sends us an eyewitness account of the Mormeck/Bell cruiserweight bout in Levallois last Saturday. “A few actors were shown on the big screen, all seeming bored out of their minds. The card girls were being chatted up by some rapper when the lights are dimmed and Don King nearly blinds half the crowd with an amount of ice I haven’t seen since Jay-Z’s last show.”

Deep Tennis with Steve Tignor
Steve tells us about the day that German Karsten Braasch took on the Williams sisters back to back. “Braasch was there at the time, and he was ranked No. 203. He had had a couple beers that morning before playing a round of golf, but he said sure, he’d play them. He went out and beat Serena 6-1 and then Venus 6-2.”

I’m that little bit of hope
Unsilent runs down his favorite unlikely stars from the opening weekend of March Madness.

3/22
Sharpshootin’ with the Franchise
Franchise finally made it back, thank Jesus, from his fighting tour of the Midwest and got his ass down to some Sharpshootin’. What’s on his mind? The steroids controversy, UFC’s potential purchase of Pride, WM 23 and the deaths of Ernie Ladd and Arnold Skaaland.

Not with a whimper but a bang
The anniversary of Ali’s last fight in the 1960′s, his seventh-round knockout of Zora Folley. “The great tragedy of Ali’s Vietnam exile from a boxing angle is that in ’66 and ’67 he had evolved into a type of athlete as yet unseen in the heavyweight ranks, and one we may never see again – a 212-pound man with power in both gloves and the agility and handspeed of an elusive middleweight.”

The Greatest Fights of Large’s Lifetime
Large gets all Franchise and counts down the top ten fights of his lifetime, all in response to a Bert Sugar clip on ESPN.com in which he counts down the greatest fights ever. I don’t think I’m giving too much away when I tell you that the Thrilla in Manila is on both lists.

3/23
The No Mas Top 23 Wrestlemania Moments
Oh people, we’re getting down to the bone with this list – Franchise takes us into the top ten with the pioneering ladder match and a whole lotta Bret “The Hitman” Hart.

3/23
NCAA Regional Semifinals
CBS, 7 p.m.
Georgetown v. Vandy, North Carolina v. USC, Florida v. Butler and UNLV v. Oregon. Before you go wagering away your hard-earned loot, you be sure to check back with us for some advice from the sage Unsilent.

WWE Smackdown
CW, 8 p.m.
The chairman of the board, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, makes a special appearance on Smackdown this week. Plus, Batista & The Undertaker put their ‘Mania differences aside when they team up to face Finlay & King Booker.

Miguel Cotto v. Carlos Ramirez
ESPN Classic, 8 p.m., 12 a.m.
Some early Cotto, and some hyperviolence, as he puts the smack all over the overmatched Ramirez.

Friday Night Fights
ESPN2, 9 p.m.
The FNF headliner features somewhat hot welterweight prospect Delvin Rodriguez against Jesse Feliciano, a soupcan being served up for supper. This one should end quickly, but Rodriguez is definitely worth a look.

Jimmy Kimmel Live
ABC, 12:05 a.m.
The Maloofs (or as I like to call them, the “Mamalucs”), owners of the Sacramento Kings, are on with Kimmel tonight. I spend a lot of time out in the Sacramento area these days, and recently I went to a game at the Arco Center with a hardcore Kings fan who hates the Maloofs with a passion that divides nations. He pointed out that they made their fortune by owning casinos, which make all of their money off of suckers gambling on games they know nothing about. Now, however, it seems the Maloofs have fallen into that same trap with the NBA.

Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight
SHOe, 1:30 a.m.
All high in the wee wee hours alert. Bloodfist III… this shit is in a prison.

3/24
Jack Dempsey: The Early Years
ESPN Classic, 7 a.m.
Footage of the Manassa Mauler from the fight where he won the heavyweight title from the Pottawatomie Giant, Jess Willard, along with clips from the Carpentier and Tommy Gibbons fights.

A Touch of Evel
ESPN Classic, 10 a.m.
A profile of one of the greatest sportsman of the 20th century, motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. Watch this and just let the awesomeness roll over you in cascading waves of awesome.

Road to the Final Four
CBS, 3 p.m
If you’re more like me than Unsilent, and you pretty much don’t know what the hell is going on with the tourney but you want to watch the Elite Eight, well, this is the show for you… us.

NCAA Regional Finals
CBS, 4:30 p.m.
The aforementioned Elite Eight gets underway.

Mikkel Kessler v. Librado Andrade
HBO, 9:45 p.m.
If you haven’t seen the Danish Hitman in action, here’s your chance – Kessler is the WBC and WBA champ at 168 and he’s got very heavy hands. Also, I believe that before the Kessler fight, HBO will replay last week’s Barrera/Marquez bout.

Saturday Night Live
NBC, 11:30 p.m.
Peyton Manning hosts. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at rehearsals from the Indianapolis Star – “Manning seemed happy with his personal spin on a recurring sketch that features hillbillies describing the ridiculous circumstances that led to their ailments.” Sounds fucking hilarious.

3/25
Classic Battle Lines
ESPN Classic, 7 a.m.
Battle Lines sets up the Duke/Kentucky showdown in the ’92 tournament, a.k.a. the Laettner Game.

Perfect Upset: The 1985 Villanova vs. Georgetown NCAA Championship
HBO, 7 a.m.
Great doc on the second biggest upset in the history of sport. Another piece of trivia – Franchise worked on this sucker, so you know the shit is good.

Hoosiers
AMC, 11:30 a.m.
Alright, boys, this is the last shot we got! We’re gonna run the picket fence at ‘em! Jimmy, you’re solo right! Everett, hit Whit comin’ across! Now, boys, don’t get caught watchin’ the paint dry!

U.S. v. Ecuador
ESPN2, 12 noon
An international friendly being played down in Tampa – the two teams haven’t met since 2002.

NCAA Regional Finals
CBS, 2:30 p.m.
More Elite Eight action – at the end of this session, the Final Four will be set.

Fast Break
ESPN Classic, 8 p.m, 12 a.m.
A lost nugget from 1979 in which Mr. Kotter leaves the sweathogs and goes to coach a college basketball team. Ah Gabe Kaplan must still yearn for that 16-month period in the 70′s when he could actually get a job.

Tough Enough
FMC, 10 p.m.
Dennis Quaid plays a country singer who decides to become a boxer. Warning – this movie is so bad that it goes all the way around to being awesome… but then goes around again to being even worse that it was in the first place.

Emile Griffith v. Dick Tiger, 1970
ESPN Classic, 12 a.m.
Are you kidding me? Emile and Dick Tiger in a super-middleweight battle from 1970? And at the Garden no less. Oh shit. I love you Classic… even though you fired me, I still love you. (Note – one of the judges for this bout was none other than Harold Lederman – “okay Jim, I gotta tell you…”)

All right people, lot of countdowns on No Mas of late, but let’s take it back to the real deal, as the Franchise gets into his top ten of all-time Wrestlemania moments. Today we’re going from #9 to #6. Click here for #13-10, here for #23-19, and here for #18-14. And away we go…

#9: Sibling Rivalry
Wrestlemania X , Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
March 24, 1990

The Match: Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart

The Moment: Bret Hart actually wrestled twice at WM X (he defeated Yokozuna to capture the WWF title) but it’s his match against his late brother Owen that everyone will remember. The build to this match was unforgettable and by the time the reluctant brother, Bret, stepped into the ring with his jealous brother, Owen, no one knew what to expect. In the end, Owen came out on top but I cant help but feel a little sad when I think back on this match that featured two men who had their careers cut way too short.

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#8: Climbing the Ladder
Wrestlemania X , Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
March 24, 1990

The Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (c)

The Moment: This match is widely considered as the genesis to all the amazing ladder matches of the next decade. The moves these guys pulled off were definitely the first of their kind.

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#7: A Rattlesnake is Born
Wrestlemania 13 , Rosemont Horizon, Chicago, IL
March 23, 1991

The Match: Bret ‘The Hitman” Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

The Moment: It’s not often that the loser of a match comes out looking stronger than the victor but that’s exactly what happened when Hart and Austin battled in a submission match at WM 13. The WWF pulled the old switcheroo by turning Hart heel and Austin babyface in one simple moment of defiance.

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#6: The Boyhood Dream…
Wrestlemania XII , Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA
March 31, 1996

The Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret ‘The Hitman” Hart (c)

The Moment: Alright, now we are getting into the ‘arguably the greatest match in Wrestlemania history” territory. Exhibit A: Bret vs. Shawn. Ironman match. Some doubted whether they could hold the crowd’s attention for 60 minutes. Did they ever…and then some.

The only thing I can’t stand about March (except for Billy Packer) is the interminable wait between the second and third rounds. If life were more like TiVo I would have started fast forwarding on Sunday night only stopping to occasionally check in on Gilbert and my Wizards. But alas, real life is a bitch. On Monday I contacted my health insurance provider to find out if they cover willfully induced comas. Cheap fuckers. I had no recourse.

Well now we can forget all of that, because today it’s Thursday and in a matter of hours the Madness will return. This means no more sneaking looks at the Sportsline scoreboard at work (or missing entire games because of an afternoon flight), from now on it’s all primetime. As Ray Charles once sang, “the night time is the right time.” Just ask the former royal family of primetime television…

Vintage.

Now without further ado let’s take a look at the four matchups that comprise tonight’s double-dipped doubleheader.

7:10
Southern Illinois #4 vs. Kansas #1

Each team runs a very specific system and they obviously do it quite well. Whenever you get two talented teams with such divergent styles you’re pretty much guaranteed to see an interesting game. Kansas is young, versatile, and their athleticism is awe-inspiring. They rebound and run as well as anybody in the country and when their shooting is on point they’re as tough an out as anybody in the tournament. Meanwhile So. Ill came in to the tournament with the reputation of having the best defense in the nation. If anything last week’s games elevated that rep. The Saluki’s perimeter defense will be spread all over the floor this evening, the further out they push the more difficult it will be for Kansas to establish their half court offense. Once the Jayhawks work the ball inside (and they will) we’ll be treated to a fantastic individual matchup.

Julian Wright vs. Randal Falker

Wright is 6’8″ with the body of a swingman but he’s shown the ability to dominate in the paint, especially on the glass. Tonight he faces one of the toughest interior defenders in the whole country. So Ill’s chances of victory likely hinge on their dominating inside presence, Randal Falker. If he stays out of foul trouble and keeps up with Wright and the other long bodies on the front line they’ve got an excellent chance to stay in game.

7:27 (because 7:30 is bourgeois)
Texas A&M #3 vs. Memphis #2

Nobody knows what’s going on in this one, it’s kind of like the matchup above without the talent disparity. A&M’s perimeter defense is quite similar to Southern Illinois and Memphis relies on its length and athleticism. Each team has shown the ability to simply overwhelm their opponents all year by utilizing these strengths. Memphis’ best shot to win will come under the basket. A&M has some athletes on the interior but it’s likely not enough to deal with both Joey Dorsey and Robert Dozier. A&M’s best chance is to hand the ball to Acie Law IV and step aside. His shot might be ugly but the results, much like the rest of his game, is undeniable in its beauty.

As of now there’s been no update on the condition of Memphis’ leading scorer, Chris Douglas-Roberts. The hyphenated swingman is still suffering through a sore ankle and Coach Cal’ hasn’t exactly been forthcoming. If I don’t hear something soon I might send John Chaney over to practice for a little bit of up close interrogation.

9:40
Pitt #3 vs. UCLA #2

This very game could make or break my entire year as a sports fan. I like UCLA and I love Ben Howland, but tonight all the allegiances go out the window. I want to watch them suffer like Adam Morrison (the crying, not the diabetes) and I want to taste their sweet sweet tears.

Both teams play great defense and both teams have perfect balanced offensive attacks. This one is going to be an all-out battle, I’m just praying my side comes out ahead.

For more on the matchup check out Deadspin’s Sweet 16 Pants Party from this afternoon. That’s just good writing!

9:57
Tennessee #5 vs. Ohio State #1

By the time I switch over to this game I’ll be too jubilant/high/anguished/drunk to comprehend the high definition images flying through my living room. For those of you planning to watch the game expect more of the same from Ohio State. They have a ton of talent but they have failed to exhibit the ability to put a team down on the mat. Seeing as how Tennessee is a team full of cold-blooded chuckers (and I mean that in the best possible way) the game should stay close down to the waning minutes. I’d really love to think that Chris Lofton could shoot his team past the unbearable Buckeyes but I’m still doubtful (unless Bruce Pearl shows up in drag, then it’s anybody’s game).

Enjoy yourselves tonight, I know I will.

There’s a clip on ESPN.com today that has Bert Sugar running down his top ten fights of all time with Brian Kenny. Here’s his list:

1. Louis/Conn I, 1941
2. Tunney/Dempsey II, 1927
3. Ali/Frazier I, 1971
4. Graziano/Zale I, 1946
5. Moore/Durelle I, 1958
6. Ali/Frazier III, 1975
7. Marciano/Walcott I, 1952
8. Graziano/Zale II, 1947
9. Hagler/Hearns, 1985
10. Dempsey/Firpo, 1923

It’s a sound list, not a lot of wild cards in there, although I scratch my chin at Dempsey/Firpo – obviously a barn-burner for two rounds, but still… you rate that higher than the Rumble in the Jungle? Louis/Conn is a real hobbyhorse of the old-timers, so I’ll give that one a pass. I must say that I am not the biggest believer in the myth of Hagler/Hearns. A great three rounds for sure, but the fight on the whole does not compare in my book to the Shakespearean drama of Leonard/Hearns I. And my biggest beef with Bert’s list is Moore/Durelle I – I’ve seen this fight many times, and it’s an amazing testament to Archie Moore’s resilience, but it’s not one of the ten greatest fights of all time.

So… I of course need to offer a counter list, but I’m not going to go with an all-time list, because I don’t feel quite qualified to rank the Graziano/Zale’s and the Dempsey/Tunney’s. Part of what makes a fight great is the stakes going in, the burden of expectation that the fighters are carrying. It’s hard to assess this with the passage of time, as fights move from the realm of history into that of mythology. It can be done, obviously, but I’ll leave it to the cigar-chompers who claim such evaluations as their birthright.

For myself, I only want to trade in the fights of my lifetime – August 11th, 1970 to the present. Without further ado, let’s get ready to rumble… the envelopes please:

10. Larry Holmes v. Ken Norton – 1978
I’m sure that my tenth fight will be my most controversial, and there are obviously other very worthy candidates that I left off the list in lieu of this bout, chief among them in my mind being Morales/Barrera I and the aforementioned Hagler/Hearns. Yes, I admit there is some home-cooking going on here – Larry was local to my aunt and uncle and a big hero of mine growing up. But I also think the greatness of this fight has been overshadowed by time – I definitely think it’s one of the top five heavyweight title fights ever. The 15th round alone makes it an instant candidate for immortality. Check it out – shit is straight up Rocky and Apollo, two men with absolutely nothing left reaching deep for the ultimate prize.

9. Bobby Chacon v. Bazooka Limon IV – 1982
The fourth fight between these two, this one with the WBC super featherweight title on the line. It’s an absolute jaw-dropper, Castillo/Corrales material, with Chacon going down in 4th and the 10th but coming back to drop Limon in the 15th and get the UD. It’s true that I’m a big Chacon fan, but I feel confident this fight belongs on the list.

8. Riddick Bowe v. Evander Holyfield I – 1992
No doubt, the best of this era-defining trilogy and possessed of one of the top ten rounds in history. Check it out for yourselves.

7. Muhammad Ali v. George Foreman – 1974
This is one of those fights that could be argued against solely for what transpires in the ring, because despite the fact that there was furious action at times, and the rope-a-dope is compelling just for being so bizarre, I still feel that if you watched this bout in a vacuum your mind would not be blown. But that’s just not an option with the Rumble – this was one of the biggest stages for a heavyweight fight in the history of man, and Ali was such an enormous underdog that many thought he would be murdered in that ring. For the epic quality of the proceedings, and the miracle of Ali’s victory, the fight must be on this list.

6. Diego Corrales v. Jose Luis Castillo I – 2005
Sixth? I can already hear you saying it. You have Castillo/Corrales sixth? Well, just wait and see what’s ahead of it. I remain in complete awe of this fight, and simply don’t understand how two human beings could take this much punishment and survive. The tenth round is one of those sporting moments that you just don’t believe no matter how many times you watch it.

5. Aaron Pryor v. Alexis Arguello I, 1982
A junior welterweight championship bout so huge that it was held in the Orange Bowl. The fight itself justified the hype, as a back-and-forth war took place between the elegant but ferocious Arguello and the Tasmanian-devil-like tornado that was Aaron Pryor. Arguello looked like he would be knocked out in the 11th, and then came back in the 12th to put Pryor on queer street. Then the “mystery bottle” controversy occurred in Pryor’s corner (“no no the one I mixed”) and a rejuvenated Hawk went out eventually stopped Alexis in the 14th. Hands down, the fight of the 80′s.

4. Julio Cesar Chavez v. Meldrick Taylor – 1990
Just a month after Tyson/Douglas, the boxing world was shocked again with a fight that had more drama than the entire history of Broadway. The preternaturally talented Meldrick Taylor (all love to Philly fighters) met up with the ultimate Mexican warrior, Chavez, and the bout that ensued is one that still incites passionate argument. Taylor dominated the fight until about the ninth round, at which point Chavez’s relentless attack started to take it’s toll. In the last three rounds, it boiled down to a classic fistic drama – could the wounded Taylor finish on his feet? The ending was flat-out unfathomable.

3. Sugar Ray Leonard v. Tommy Hearns – 1981
It’s just impossible to recreate the hype that this fight generated. In my memory, but for Holmes/Cooney, it is the last true superfight, a boxing match so big that captivated all of America. Leonard/Hagler was big, but not this big – boxing was too far down queer street by 1987. And then the fight itself between Sugar Ray and Hearns was so unbelievable – it’s like four fights in one, each of them great, each more heroic than the last.

2. Muhammad Ali v. Joe Frazier III, 1975
Someday I am going to sit down and do a close reading of this thing. It probably will take me about ten thousand words to do it justice. In short, Rocky/Creed I has nothing on The Thrilla. Joe Frazier said before the fight that he was prepared to die in that ring, and Ali said afterward that it was the closest thing to death he had ever known. Death was in the air that night, and if you’ve seen the fight, you know why – this was sport in the truly classical sense, hearkening to that ancient time when the only true end to a contest came when one of the combatants was truly vanquished.

1. Joe Frazier v. Muhammad Ali I, 1971
As good a fight as the Thrilla, and with both of them still in their primes. As I said on the anniversary of this fight a few weeks ago, maybe Johnson/Jeffries was bigger, maybe Louis/Schmeling… and I should probably throw Dempsey/Tunney on that list too. But this was undoubtedly the biggest fight of my lifetime, almost an allegory of civil war as much as it was a heavyweight title bout. It’s hard for me to imagine such portent, such skill, such fury ever being matched again.

Forty years ago today, Ali fought his last bout of the 1960′s, knocking out an old and overmatched Zora Folley in the seventh round of their heavyweight title fight at the Garden. It was just over a month after the Champ’s “what’s my name?” debacle with Ernie Terrell in Houston, and the fallout from that fight combined with his blunt refusal to fight in Vietnam had reinvigorated the anti-Ali sentiment in the public and the media.

Of course, no amount of public opposition could make the 35-year-old Folley into a worthy foe for Ali in 1967. The great tragedy of Ali’s Vietnam exile from a boxing angle is that in ’66 and ’67 he had evolved into a type of athlete as yet unseen in the heavyweight ranks, and one we may never see again – a 212-pound man with power in both gloves and the agility and handspeed of an elusive middleweight. Watching his fights from that period, you almost have the feeling of a man who has cracked some grand mathematical code and is operating in another dimension than his opponents. As for his fight with Folley, Jimmy Ellis was probably giving the Champ harder sparring sessions that the bout that Zora put up that night. Ali put Folley down in the fourth and finished him in the seventh, looking for all the world as if he’d barely had a workout.

And that was that for the Ali decade in the ring. By the end of the year, he’d been convicted for refusing to serve in Vietnam and stripped of both his boxing license and his title. He would not fight again until October of 1970, when he began his comeback in Atlanta against that hard-as-nails Irish bridesmaid, Jerry Quarry.

(The video below is a short recap of the Folley fight and includes Ali’s famous “you’re being extremely truculent” exchange with Cosell.)

(All right No Masians, your long trek through the combat Mojave is over – Franchise is back in the saddle and he means business – let’s all welcome him back with a big flying hell-bow, and away we go…)

Yeah, and…?: The wrestling world is buzzing over the news that 11 current and former WWE wrestlers are being linked to a nationwide steroid investigation. SI.com first broke the news that TNA star and former Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, the late Eddie Guerrero, Adam Copeland (aka Edge), Oscar Gutierrez (aka Rey Mysterio), Randy Orton, and Shane Helms, among others, had been prescribed various forms of drugs over the last few years. So, I will say it again: Yeah, and…? I can’t imagine anyone being dumb enough to think that steroids are not commonplace in the world of wrestling. They are and they always will be. That is until Vince McMahon stops pushing guys who look like Bobby Lashley to the moon. The bottom line is that wrestlers understand that the bigger you are the more successful you will be. If I had to guess, I would say that 90% if not more of the wrestlers in the WWE and TNA locker rooms are on some kind of drug. I wish it weren’t this way. I love professional wrestling more than anyone and, trust me, I would rather not see ‘roided up guys stumble around the ring when I can watch slimmer, more-talented wrestlers like CM Punk use their God-given ability. Unfortunately this is the nature of the business. When it comes to football or baseball, it is believed that the only way athletes will scare off of steroids is if a huge star suddenly dies. But in wrestling, we’re way beyond that point. It seems like every week another wrestler passes away. Sadly, I foresee many more funerals to come.

Worlds Colliding: The latest rumeur du jour has it that the owners of the UFC, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, are on the verge of purchasing Pride Fight Championships. To say this would be the biggest news in the history of MMA would be the understatement of the century. Pride is by far the biggest MMA organization outside of the US (the UFC has a firm stranglehold on this market) but they seem to be on their last legs. Hence, UFC signing away top Pride stars like Mirko Cro Cop over the last couple of months. If this deal does go down there will be a plethora of dream matches ready to be signed. This situation is eerily similar to what happened with the WWF and WCW. In the mid-90s nobody was hotter than World Championship Wrestling. But by the start of the 21st Century, the tables had turned and the WWF had seized control over the wrestling world. Then, in March 2001, hell froze over when McMahon purchased WCW. Wrestling fans believed this would lead to a number of great PPVs over time but McMahon had no interest in promoting his former competitors so he basically buried all the WCW guys. That’s where the differences between the two purchases will end. Fortunately for us, UFC president Dana White can’t decide who wins and loses when former Pride fighters step into the Octagon with the UFC stars.

Wrestlemania Update: We are a mere 11 days away and I am not quite sure whether to be excited for the 23rd edition of ‘the granddaddy of ‘em all” or not. On one hand, they have done a great job promoting the top matches and making them seem relevant. On the other hand, they can promote them all they want but I am just not getting fired up for this card. We’ll have a more in-depth preview of the show next week but let’s update you on where the card currently stands:

• World Heavyweight Champion Batista vs. Undertaker
• WWE Champion John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
• Battle of the Billionaires: Bobby Lashley w/ Donald Trump vs. Umaga w/ Vince McMahon , Special Guest Referee: Stone Cold Steve Austin
• Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Randy Orton vs. Fit Finlay vs. Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. King Booker vs. CM Punk vs. Edge vs. Mr. Kennedy
• ECW Originals (RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Sandman) vs. New Breed (Elijah Burke, Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von)
• Women’s Champion Melina vs. Ashley
• Kane vs. The Great Khali
• United States Champion Chris Benoit vs. MVP

I don’t know about you but there isn’t a match on that card that I am DYING to see. It just seems like any other PPV – which WM certainly shouldn’t be.

Rest In Peace: The last couple of weeks have been pretty rough for wrestling legends with the passings of ‘Big Cat” Ernie Ladd and Arnold Skaaland. Not only was Ladd one of the greatest wrestlers in the 1960s and 1970s, but he was also a pretty good football player too. He played for the San Diego Chargers from 1961 to 1965, starring on the Chargers’ 1963 AFL Championship team, and also played for the Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs in the AFL. He appeared in four-straight AFL All-Star Games from 1962-1965. In 1961, in an effort to revive a struggling San Diego wrestling market, ‘Classy” Freddie Blassie brought Ladd in for a publicity stunt ala Lawrence Taylor coming to the WWF in the mid-90s. Unlike LT, however, Ladd realized that he enjoyed the wrestling ring more than the gridiron. The rest is history. The ‘Big Cat” wrestled for the NWA, Mid-South Wrestling, and the World-Wide Wrestling Federation (the precursor to the WWF), among other promotions. He was also a 1995 inductee to the WWF Hall-of-Fame.

A year before Ladd entered the HOF, Arnold Skaaland was honored as part of the 1994 class. While Skaaland’s in-ring wrestling career was impressive enough, he will be best known for his duties outside the ring as one of the industry’s best managers and most-liked personalities. He was one of the original employees of the WWWF and had been working behind-the-scenes for the company until his death last week. He also served as Andre the Giant’s agent, but most will remember him in his role as manager to Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund. He was even involved in one of the most famous moments in wrestling history when Backlund, managed by Skaaland, defended his WWF title against the Iron Sheik, managed by Freddie Blassie, on December 12, 1983 at MSG. It doesn’t get much better than this.

NCAA Tournament – Regional Semifinals
CBS, 7 p.m.
Memphis v. Texas A&M, Ohio State v. Tennessee, Kansas v. Southern Illinois, UCLA v. Pittsburgh. Not sure what games gets shown where, but look, who cares, because you’ll watch whatever they give you. Check back here later in the day for Unsilent’s preview.

Conan the Barbarian
AMC, 8 p.m.
First of all, this stars the great athlete Arnold Something-or-Other, and second of all, if you’ve studied your history, you know that in the Middle Ages, all barbarians were considered elite athletes. This was a tough movie for little Large – I loved it, but that scene where he’s banging that ho and then she turns into a green vampire ho… that shit game me nightmares for weeks. It all too perfectly jibed with what I suspected women were up to in real life.

TNA Impact!
Spike, 9 p.m.
Eric Young goes up against The Austin Starr and an interesting main event as Sting & Abyss team up to face Christian Cage & AJ Styles. That, my friends, is why they call it Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Each season the tournament casts its light on a select few players that can’t help but catch your eye. I’m not talking about the All American leading his powerhouse program to the Final Four, I’m talking about the guy you probably wouldn’t recognize on the street. Some of them only last a single game but it doesn’t take long to recognize a guy hoisting his team on his back. Here’s a look at my favorite individuals from the tournament’s opening weekend (two from small schools and two from big schools).

Stephen Curry (Davidson)- Dell’s kid is the main reason I decided not to ski on Thursday. The sharp-shooting wiry frosh is the reason people love the first round. The baby faced assassin was killing Maryland from deep before he started to run out of gas. Even when his shots weren’t falling he was able to contort his lithe frame into every crevice made available by Maryland’s staunch defense. The second leading freshmen scorer in the country (behind Durant) is going to be a big factor in March for years to come.

Eric Maynor (VCU)- Under normal circumstances a guy with balls that big should consult a physician. If Duke had somebody like that on their roster they probably wouldn’t have become the first round’s lone upset. Unlike other mid major standouts Maynor didn’t carry his team on his jump shot alone (he only attempted two 3′s in as many games). Instead he relied on a devastating mid range game and outstanding vision (8 dimes per) to lead his team over Coach K’s Young Leaders of America. If that wasn’t enough he cemented his spot on this list when he guided his team back from a 19 point deficit to force Pitt into overtime.

Derrick Byars (Vanderbilt)- It’s hard to imagine that people still aren’t fully aware of the SEC’s Player of the Year. In addition to being a total joy to watch he’s also been the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player through two rounds. Whether he’s defending his basket in the final three seconds of regulation or filling up the stat sheet you can’t take your eyes off of him.

J.R. Reynolds (UVA)- Another well-established player who doesn’t get the national recognition that he truly deserves (even if he did go to Oak Hill). Fellow guard Sean Singletary attracts a lot of the media’s attention because of his penchant for the dramatic but it’s J.R. that carried the offensive burden. He can, and will (9/18 on 3′s), shoot from all over the floor with enough moves to elude any defender. In his two tournament games he averaged 27 points on over 58% from the field. Apparently I’m in the minority but I think the senior can become an excellent bench scorer in the NBA.