Verizon asks FCC to force cable firm to negotiate TV sports channel rights

Not quite sure what this article is about, especially what "FiOS TV" but I'm thinking it will become clear in the future...

Verizon Communications Inc. wants the Celtics so badly that it's willing to make a federal case to get them.

The New York-based telecommunications company petitioned the Federal Communications Commission yesterday to force a competitor to negotiate over the rights to carry Fox Sports New England, home of Boston Celtics basketball games, on its new fiber-optic television service. The filing accuses a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp. of preventing Verizon's new FiOS TV service from offering the sports channel, and a similar one in New York, in violation of federal rules requiring cable companies to make so-called must-have programming available to competitors.

Finally, the icing on the cake (and how about none of the BIG EAST newcomers winning a game at MSG)

Computer Genius Tim came up with this video tid bit SET TO MUSIC, that he recorded after the title game Saturday night... Can we talk about how cool it must be to take of the crowd at MSG with chants of GE-RRY, GE-RRY, GE-RRY.

A couple other things, I looked through the SU notes and could find no mention of the amazing fact that the Orange are 13-1 over the past two seasons at the Garden (their home away from home). More importantly, I wanted Gerry's career numbers at MSG, something that would have been tremendous to show the educated and highly sophisticated basketball lovers watching at home and in attendance. SU Media Relations dropped the ball!

Cheney retires from Temple, he was always a good entertaining to listen to as he was like your old relative who said what ever about who ever, just because he could. Outside of the News40 clip of him trying to kill former UMass coach John Calapari in a press conference, I'm looking for an article in the Philly papers that have some of his most quotables lines... one of my favorites is that "someone should take a bat to Lari Ketner's head" said with a complete straight face.

Finally, can we talk about every team in the BIG EAST that finished above .500 got invited to a post-season tournament?! That's 12 out of 16 teams, and every squad that made it to the BIG EAST Tournament! Of course with my own personal curse in full effect at PC, the Friars are home with a 12-15 record.

In Addition... Orange Crush

The weekend was replete with a pair of day-trips to NYC for the BIG EAST Tournament where Syracuse took over The Garden. It's was pretty cool to see the Orange knock off No. 1 UConn and a tough Pittsburgh bunch that will do some damage in the Tournament... Clearly it was McNamara's Tournament though as he put together the best performance ever in the history of the BIG EAST Tournament.

It ALSO WAS one of the reasons for all that is right in college sports. Steve Serby of the NY Post who finished with this funny bit...
Asked why he ventured away from the mob, walking toward press row when the Orange celebration began, McNamara said: "I was on a big pile one time and I got kicked in the face." That was three years ago when he and Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to the national title as freshmen. "If we won the national championship," McNamara added, "I'd lie on the ground and the whole team could kick me in the face."

I found it more humerous when you read the entire transcript from the Press Conference, but the mere sight of everyone kicking McNamara in the face, Boheim included!

GERRY MCNAMARA: Well, I kind of stay away from the pile. I'm not the biggest guy, so half the time I'm getting run over. I kind of go to the side a little bit and a couple guys will come over. But that's the way I like it. I was on a big pile one time and I got kicked in the face. That was after we won the championship, so...

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: That was worth it, though.

GERRY MCNAMARA: Yeah, I didn't mind it.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: We'll get in a pile one more time.

GERRY MCNAMARA: If we won the National Championship, I'd lie on the ground and the whole team could kick me in the face (laughter).

And we're off

For the record, as far as I'm concerned, March Madness actually started on Wednesday with the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament, but with the release of the men's bball brackets last night, we're in full March Madness craziness. (if you are really nuts, here's the NIT which I will never understand who they determine gets the first round byes... I understand it's all about who can sell seats, but 40 teams is a joke, it should be 32. On another ramble, I guess if you're really nuts you could print out the women's bracket and get in a pool with that, or worse a Division II men's hoops bracket (Go Bryant). I guess by default that would make the Division II women's bracket the worst tournament pool to be running ever... And if you mail me your picks, I bet I'll do better than you!

Here we go, there always controversy after the selection show, like Cincinatti not getting in, and Air Force GETTING in... I though Cincy should be in way before Seton Hall, and you got to love it when a team doesn't even bother to watch the show, yet still makes it... Here's a nice piece ripping the Selection Committee, as well as ripping CBS's announcers for ripping the committee... always a good double-standard, and I would like to see Jim Nantz and homer Billy Packer apologize for their actions. Just for that I think I'm rooting a little harder for the Missouri Valley Conference, hey Wichita State already had my vote. This article also was good, while the Washington Post did a good job blasting Billy Packer, by getting comments from the Missouri Valley Conference Commish! (side note, the Washington Post is rocketing up the charts of my favorite sports pages, definitely a top-5 behind the Post, Globe and Herald but that's a topic for another day).

"I don't give a damn what this guy says," MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin said, during a telephone interview from the league's office in St. Louis last night. "I thought it was very inappropriate and he was misinformed about a lot of things."