VCU - CAA RULEZ!!!

After a stunning victory against #1 seeded Kansas, VCU finds themselves in the Final Four. It is a complete loop for them as they played in the First Four to earn the right to play in the tourney. Many people were upset at their bid and that the CAA sent an unprecedented three teams into the tournament but they have silenced all critics and get a showdown with Butler (the team that narrowly squeezed by ODU (another CAA team) in the opening round).

A few years back, George Mason shocked the NCAA BB viewing world by getting to the Final Four and now it's VCU's turn and get a favorable draw with Butler and could find themselves playing for the national championship. SHOCKING!!! When March Madness begins, we think that teams like Duke, Kansas, UNC, Syracuse, Pitt, and other big time college BB programs. This year, we have not only VCU but Butler.

The big concern for VCU is that they just beat the #1 seed and find themselves in the Final Four and they may get caught up in all the hoopla and excitement and may fall into the "We've arrived" syndrome and be satisfied with what they have accomplished. It will be up to Shaka to make sure that the team enjoys the Kansas victory but look ahead to Butler and that opportunity to play for the championship.

Congrats to VCU and good luck!

No Ovie? No Problem!

Caps shelved Ovie for a few days to get him healthy come playoff time. They went into first place Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. Coming in they were 2 points behind them for the top spot in the East. Due to some weak Flyer goaltending, we jumped out to a 3-0 lead. However, for the better parts of the second and third periods, we were outplayed and the Flyers stormed back to take a 4-3 advantage.

Despite being outplayed, Marcus Johannson fired a one timer past Brian Boucher to tie to the game 4-4 with 5 minutes left. Regulation ended with the same score. OT provided no goals so it went down to the shootout. It was 2 to 2 and it came down to Semin as the final shooter. He skated in hard and made a couple of nifty moves and put in a backhander to end the game.

It wasn't the best played game and we squandered a 3-0 lead but the important thing is that we fought back and found a way to win. We did so on the road and decimated with injuries (Ovie, Arnott, Green).

The Caps now find themselves one point out of the top spot in the East(granted we have played 2 more games than the Flyers) with 8 games remaining. We are the hottest team in hockey right now and I like the way things are shaping up as we head into the playoffs. This is probably the best I have ever felt about the Caps going into the playoffs. I truly believe we are ready to make a push. I think we have found the right balance between offense and defense. I also feel like we have the right mix between young and veteran guys. I believe the success these guys had in the regular season last year coupled with the HUGE disappointment of being bounced in the opening round of the playoffs has helped this team mature and get them to realize what it takes to win in the playoffs. As long as the team can stay healthy, I expect a deep run into the playoffs. Anything short of the conference championship would be a tremendous failure. Frankly, I expect to win the Cup but at a minimum we need to get to the conference championship.

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!

CAA!

Strong showing by the CAA in the tourney this year. We had an unprecedented 3 teams make the tournament and all teams represented themselves well.

ODU (CAA champs) took Butler down to the wire and ended up losing on a last second put back. Butler is in the Sweet 16.

GMU beat Villanova in the opening round but got crushed in the 2nd round to #1 Ohio St. Clearly, GMU is not as bad as the beating they took. They just happened to catch Ohio State on the wrong night.

VCU had to play UCLA in the play in game to get into the tourney. After taking care of them, they took on G'town and beat them soundly. They drew Purdue in the second round and disposed of them handily and find themselves facing Florida St. in the Sweet 16.

The CAA teams took care of two of the 11 Big East teams that were selected. The point is that the CAA is a strong conference worthy of sending three teams. Even JMU had won 20+ games during the season. The thing is that all of the mentioned teams will be strong next year as they are all young. It's good to get some recognition and see that the CAA is able to make some noise in the national tournament.

Note to all that fill out a bracket, always pick the CAA team in the first round. It is very rare for them to disappoint.

Charlie Sheen...FIRED!

I'M SHOCKED!!!! I wonder if he still believes he is winning. Still, CBS better beware because they just intensified the fight with the warlock.

Tiki Barber coming out of retirement

Tiki Barber has filed papers to come out of retirement and try to revive his NFL career, his agent Mark Lepselter confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

Barber, 35, hasn't played since the 2006 season with the New York Giants, where he spent his entire 10-year career. Most recently he has been a correspondent for "The Today Show" and "Sunday Night Football" on NBC.

"After seeing my brother still have fun at our age, it reignited the fire," Tiki Barber said, according to FOXSports.com. "I'm really looking forward to the challenge of seeing if I can get back to the level of where I was. I started working out again recently. It kind of shocked myself. I still had a lot of the strength I had before. I'm really looking forward to making a return."

Barber went out on top, rushing for 1,662 yards and five touchdowns in 2006. He ran for 10,449 yards with a 4.7 yards per carry average in his career.

What is this guy doing? He was a pretty good football player but he is becoming a little bit of a freak show. Will be interesting to see what becomes of his resurrection but don't see him doing a whole lot.

Caps beat Lightning

Caps win again last night beating the Bolts 2-1 in a shootout. It had the feeling of a playoff game and it lived up to the billing. Both teams had good opportunities and it took a shootout to decide the outcome.

Neuvirth left early because a hard shot hitting him in the mask and it kind of shook him up. Enter Braeden Holtby who was fantastic. A 21 year old kid just called up again and he came in cold and was brilliant. He had at least 3 unbelievable saves. It's funny becauser all of the Caps goalies are very young but because Varly has been hurt the bulk of the season, Neuvy seems to have supplanted him as the #1 goalie. Boudreau is going to give it to Neuvy as he wanted Neuvy to play back to back games and get used to that as he will have to expect that come playoff time.

The Caps were down late but Semin came up big for the Caps for the second straight night, scoring his 24th goal of the season to tie it 1-all with 5:32 remaining in the third period. It was a wicked wrist shot that clanged off the post and in. He has one of the best wrist shots in the game and he seems to be flourishing with the Arnott on his line.

Ovie was also good down the stretch with a couple of nice opportunities to end it in regulation.

As mentioned, the game went to OT and the Caps had a few chances with a minute left as TB took a penalty making it 4 on 3 for the rest of the OT. Roloson had a couple of nice stops and it ended up going to shootout. Ovie scored on his attempt and that was all the Caps needed as Holtby stopped all of TB's shooters. In the end, the Caps get the extra point and now have a 2 point lead over TB and find themselves only 2 points out of the top spot in the East.

Frankly, it doesn't matter what seed they get. When you look at the playoff teams in the East, they are all solid and I truly believe the seedings will be meaningless. The question is who is hot going into the playoffs and who will get the solid goaltending needed to win series'. The Caps have won 7 of their last 8 and are doing it in tight games and finding ways to win. I have mentioned that I like the way these guys are playing and just hope it continues through the playoffs.

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!

Caps take over 1st place in the SE division

Good game yesterday. Alexander Semin scored 28 seconds into overtime to give the Capitals a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday and move them atop the Southeast Division.

Nicklas Backstrom and Boyd Gordon also scored for Washington. The Capitals have won four straight, their longest winning streak since Nov. 24-Dec. 1.

The Capitals, the division champion the last three years, are in first place for the first time since Dec. 31. Washington has 82 points, one more than Tampa Bay heading into their showdown Monday night in Tampa.

We found ourselves down twice in the game but we came back strong which is encouraging. Again, since the pickups, there is a different feel with the team. It seems like we believe we can come back. It's similar to the feeling of the team last year. We consistently have a number of good scoring chances and with our emphasis on defense, it seems like 3 goals is enough to win games now. I like this team and feel good about the direction we are going in. Hopefully we can keep the win streak going. It continues with a big game against Tampa Bay tonight. Will be a great test and a battle for first place in the division.

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!

Caps beat the Blues

Caps won last night 3-2 against the Blues. Good game. What is exciting to see is that since we picked up the three new guys (Wideman, Arnott, and Sturm), there have been flashes of the team we saw last year. We look better and stronger and more confident.

It was good to see Arnott score the game winner yesterday. I really do feel much better abou the team and I think we will be much stronger down the stretch and heading into the playoffs.

With the win, the Caps are 1 point out of the 4th spot and 1 point out of first place in the SE division. Frankly, I don't think any of that matters as you just want to get to the playoffs and it's all a new season.

The other really good thing is that with the addition of Arnott, I feel like we have two top lines. Obviously, the Ovie, Backstrom, and Knuble line is strong. However, I now feel that the Semin, Laich, and Arnott line is a very strong line and they seemed to have meshed very quickly. I see a lot more from this line than prior to Arnott's arrival.

I haven't felt that great about the Caps this season and I know it's only been two games since the new guys showed up but so far I like what I see.

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!

Skins sign Oshiomogho Atogwe

Free agent safety Oshiomogho Atogwe has signed a five-year, $26 million contract with the Washington Redskins, upgrading a vital position on a defense that ranked 31st last season.

Atogwe signed the deal Thursday, two weeks after he was cut following six seasons with the St. Louis Rams.

Kareem Moore started 11 games at free safety for the Redskins last season but was inconsistent and finished the season on injured reserve. He is recovering from right knee surgery.

The signing reunites Atogwe with Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. Atogwe spent three of his seasons in St. Louis playing for Haslett, who was the Rams' defensive coordinator and later interim head coach.

Atogwe has 22 career interceptions, including three last season.

Love the signing. Huge need. Big upgrade. I'm sure Robs will find reason to criticize but if Atogwe had signed with the Pears it would have been the deal of the century (of course until the next Pear move).

Sheen quotes the Great Allen Iverson

Great collection of C. Sheen!

Great Charlie Sheen quotes!

You gotta love it!

"You borrow my brain for five seconds and just be like dude, can't handle it, unplug this bastard. It fires in a way that is, I don't know, maybe not from this terrestrial realm."

"I am on a drug, it's called Charlie Sheen. It's not available, 'cause if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body."

The Most Interesting Man in the NFL

Carter and Dock released

No real surprise. Carter was the face of players not able to fit the 3-4 scheme on last year's defense. He just can't play in this defense. He had solid years here and hopefully he lands some place that fits his skills.

Similarly, Dock is too big and not athletic enough in the zone blocking scheme. I like Dock but he is huge and built more for power running than running down field. He is a young guy and can certainly help a team out. Wish him the best.

Caps win!

Yeah, it was one game and it was at home against the lowly Islanders but I thought it was an important win after all of the moves they made before the trade deadline.

First period the Caps looked really good. All the new additions (Sturm, Arnott, Wideman) fit in nicely and it actually looked like the Caps of old. There were a number of good scoring chances but the puck just didn't go in.

The rest of the game pretty much sucked. If not for Neuvy, it would have been a blow out. There were a number of odd man rushes against us but the Isles didn't capitalize. The worst was in the third period when we had a power play and could barely even get it in the Isles zone. The crowd was booing pretty loudly at that point. Backstrom took two bad penalties late in the third period which also hurt.

It wasn't until we pulled the goalie and Arnott centered the puck right to Laich for an easy redirect to tie the game with 40+ seconds left that things got exciting.

Ovie's OT goal looked like Ovie of old. Showed great speed and power to hold off the defender and put a good move on the goalie to end the game.

Again, it is one game but there did feel like a bit of a difference with the team last night. Hopefully it carries over for the rest of the season. Blues on Thursday.

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!