Are you betting on Cinderella?

Will you be filling out a March Madness pool next week? Will you be confident in it enough to put some money behind your Final Four picks? Ever wonder why betting your own money isn't legal?

If the NCAA tournament was to take place in Europe or even some of the other continents in the world, the ability to wager a bet legally on proceedings would be readily available online. However, in the United States, as we know, this isn’t neither feasible nor a legal option.

The FBI predicts that $2.5 billion is wagered illegally during the March Madness NCAA tournament. This amount exceeds that spent on illegal wagering on the Super Bowl – a staggering statistic for a collegiate tournament.

Although little of that money will be wagered on our very own Bulldogs and more like on favorites Virginia, Kentucky and Duke it does beg the question as to why we cannot bet on events in the United States.

In 2011 Black Friday eliminated all online wagering sites and casino portals. And although some states have relaxed their gambling laws and allowed online casinos to once again operate, actual gambling on collegiate games is still prohibited.

It’s predicted that there is an increasing number of students betting on collegiate games – with some betting illegally online. Unlike in Europe where people are able to wager on a raft of sports like soccer, basketball and cricket, the United States just doesn’t allow this type of betting.

Additionally, the NCAA prohibits any forms of gambling and like most sports also bans people involved with team in the NCAA from providing outsiders with information on upcoming games. It’s understandable, as the last thing they want to do is call the NCAA’s integrity into question.

But part of the reason why so many seem to bet illegally on the NCAA is due to the fact that many “feel that they will make money from betting,” according to the NCAA’s ‘Gambling on Sports’ article. On top of that, many students feel that it adds an extra “fun factor” to games which attributes to a high percentage of betting.

With there being approximately $70 billion per year bet illegally on college football, too, the chances of this problem going away anytime soon is unlikely. Hence, why so many are now calling for it to be regulated like in Europe and other continents. As with anything that isn’t regulated comes problems and corruption. At least if it’s regulated, people will stop getting ripped off by bogus bookmakers and ultimately, procedures like Betting Responsibly can be put in place to educate people better on the ways of gambling responsibly.

Monday's Meatloaf - Do you remember when?...

We used to say...

Back in college, Joe Waterloo had this phenomenon he'd point out almost anytime we got into a car, cranked the engine of the old '67 Malibu Chevelle, and then did the same with the car's stereo (appropriately modified for the late 1980's with a Blaupunkt, btw...).

"Hey. This song was playing when we got out of the car!"

The first time this happened I just played along. There was always the chance he was just a bit touched, in a slightly imbalanced kind of way. After all, we'd just met and just because we were at the University of Georgia didn't mean he talked like we do. Maybe I was misunderstanding him.

Like the time he first said "I really smacked that puppy!!" while playing some early adoption Nintendo golf game I believe. We all looked at each other like what kind of sadistic and inhumane male role models do they have in southern Maryland that produces a guy that thinks smacking puppies around is something to brag about. But I do digress.

It didn't matter to ol Joe Waterloo that there was a cassette* in the deck. One that had been patiently waiting for the right key to make the right turn and re-ignite the tales of Pyromania that had so abruptly stopped when we'd finally found a parking spot in the Russell lot (this is before parking decks were invented kids. One had to burn at least a quarter of a tank of gas to luck into a spot back then, gather the groceries cheap beer and packages of Ramen noodles out of the trunk before hiking twelve miles uphill to your dormitory.) No, it was part of the gag I guess.

Which is why I found it so funny last week when I parked the car in the driveway Thursday evening with Van Morrison blaring and the dude just sat there all night long (without the aid of a cassette deck, a compact disc or even an iPod) until Friday morning when he could finish BIP BOP BIPping along about his brown eyed girl. I sat there dumbfounded. A flood of memories returning from decades back just to make me chuckle. I quickly looked in the backseat to see if somehow Joe Waterloo was (screwing) with me.

 As my 12yo said, it's no leg lamp but it's
still a major award!

Then I chuckled again. Turned that puppy up a little louder and...FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA ti DA.

Just like that.

Today's Ingredients
- Given our victory this weekend (see inset picture and bow to our supremacy fledgling hopheads) the following bullets are all hopped up and ready to be poured as well as eaten.
- Make sure you check out the latest Junkyard Dawg Podcast. We've kegged episode three and are dry-hopping a two week long battle with iTunes for acceptance. Oh the drama!
- Fox's Hoop Dawgs boiled up to a two-seed in the NIT and will host Vermont Wednesday night at the Steg. Go Dawgs!
- Speaking of which, tickets hit the brew menu this morning for Wednesday night's game.
- Tyler has the skinny (or at least as much as teh internets will offer) on Vermont's basketball program on draft, post Tom Brennan.
- Sure the brackets are all set. But PWD is so malt-forward in looking ahead to next season's hoops schedule.
- Back on the gridiron Lugnut Dawg asks if Georgia's contract with its offensive coordinator isn't carbonated enough.
- Andrew has a spring practice primer on tap.
- If your Georgia tackle football expectations have too much yeast in the fermenter Blutarsky has some cogent and sobering thoughts on the year after the Year of the Quarterback.
- Emerson continues his look at the pre-Spring depth chart here with the defense.
- Greg found a mascot fight on the baseline! Whoa. Talk about a brew ha ha...Ahem. Sorry.
- Lastly, met two more friends of the blog Saturday up in Suwanee. Keep that internet connection paid up and the craft beer flowing Jon and Ben! Go Dawgs!

Special shout-out to my homebrewing pahtnahs Nama and Cord, the other two-thirds of BeaverDawg Brews. I'll hand over the winning medal soon enough. Just know that both Kroger and Publix frown on you wearing it up and down their beer aisle whilst screaming the lyrics to We are the Champion!

The dude so abides y'all. In closing, Happy St. Patrick's Day and all that! As the saying goes, there are only two kinds of people in the world - Irish and those that wish they were! So let's close out this end out with an good Irish Joke:

 An Irishman was drinking in a bar in London when he gets a call on his cell phone. He orders drinks for everybody in the bar as he announces his wife has just produced a typical Irish baby boy weighing 25 pounds. 

Nobody can believe that any new baby can weigh in at 25 pounds,
but the man just shrugs, "That's about average up our way, folks ... like I said … my boy's a typical County Clare baby boy." 

Two weeks later the man returns to the bar. The bartender says, "Say, you're the father of that typical Irish baby that weighed 25 pounds at birth, aren't you? Everybody's been making' bets about how big he'd be in two weeks .... so how much does he weigh now?" 

The proud father answers, "Seventeen pounds." The bartender is puzzled and concerned. "What happened? He was 25 pounds the day he was born." 

The father takes a slow swig of his Jameson Irish Whisky,
wipes his lips on his shirt sleeve, leans into the bartender and proudly says, "Had him circumcised."

Thanks for sending that one Mac, ya old bloke! Sláinte Reader! Here's your fork and a pint glass of Murphy's. Call it lón.

Bernie

Busted Bracket options

We all know the feeling. Some of us better than others. You pore over the March Madness bracket for hours, days even, and perfect it just in time to click submit. The feeling of satisfaction is like a long pull from a very nice cigar as you look forward to testing your selections against others in the pool for the next three weeks. You smile as you tape it to the wall with visions of big numbers and expertly picked Cinderellas advancing game by game.

But 24-48 hours later it's over. Done. Your bracket is next to a piece of burnt toast at the bottom of the trashcan. What now?

A little KISS!

Well, as we head into the second weekend of the big dance, here are some options to satisfy your need for competitive tension; that exhilarating feeling of money being on the line, or maybe just bragging rights on display at the office water cooler.

• Drink a beer everytime Raftery screams "ONIONS!!" When you're out of beer, tequila shots.
• Try NBA basketball. Make side bets with your buddies on which player travels with the ball next, which team puts any effort whatsoever into defense, how many hours it takes to play the last two minutes.
• Did someone say ponies?!? PONIES!! Get a head start on the 2013 Derby schedule and check all 2013 Derby betting options, maybe while you're mixing a mint julip. Also, challenge your wife to see who can tie a bow tie faster.
• Didn't get a buzz from the "ONIONS!!" game. Try NASCAR. Shotgun a Coors Light for every left hand turn. If you make it to under 200 laps to go, order a pizza to celebrate.
• Then there's hockey...

Or you can just wait for next March I guess.

Monday's Meatloaf - of fatherly pride and ponytails

We stepped up to the registration desk and I could sense her uneasiness. I've only known her for eight years and 55 weeks, but I know she tenses up in new situations. Especially ones with new faces in new places; surely a character trait I evidently passed down to her. So I put my hand reassuringly on her shoulder, the way a dad does when he knows his kid is the least bit uneasy, and I wondered if she picked up my uneasiness as well.

Because like me, she's also pretty intuitive.

Flag football combine, event 2, distance throw, grade: A+

Months of negotiating had lead us to this point. Of course all of the discussion about playing football had been in private, for the most part. She kept insisting on tackling somebody. And I kept insisting she start with flags on her hips.

It's not that I'm afraid of pads on her shoulders. She can hold her own, trust me. It's just that flags seems the reasonable and logical step. When I first offered that a trail had already been blazed for female place kickers she insisted that she'd be a "quarterbacker" or a linebacker at UGA instead. I quickly recalled it is not in a father's best interest to sell his own daughter short. Ashamed, I quickly told her she could be anything she wants to be, a phrase she and her sister hear about every day from their mother and myself. After all, we'd much rather them reach for the stars than the storm clouds underneath.

So there we were, a year and a half later. Me standing by my promise and her standing at the desk where we knew the question would be raised. I cringed before he even asked. "Okay young lady, are you here for cheerleading?.....(long pregnant pause as the jersey and cleats she's wearing catches up to him)...or flag football?"

"She's here for football," I announced, louder than I had anticipated.

The rest was easy; even easier than the countless minutes of catch in the backyard, the neighborhood games and even the indoor Madden '13 matchups. Yes, as expected, she let her arm and her legs and her knowledge of the game do the talking once we were out on the field. Her pass had a tighter spiral than any of the coaches. Her routes were confident and sharp. She didn't like the cone drill because she didn't get to run it with a ball in her hands - "What's the point of that Dad?" But by the end she had made her point.

Should this experience prove too little of a challenge, I won't push her to continue if she doesn't want to. Just like I won't lower the bar because she's a girl. As far as I'm concerned the most important step is already behind us. And we took it together. Nothing against cheerleading, but she does enough of that on fall Saturdays.

Proud to be her daddy. Her mother, sister and I are pretty sure she will be the best one on the field. Regardless, I have already proven to her that while the world stands and waits for their opportunity to believe in her, I'm already at the front of the line.

Today's Ingredients
- MARCH MADNESS IS HERE!!!!!1 And we're not in it.
- But Tyler has the pool heated up. And here's a link to Kerri's #FBWD pool for you tweeps. Password is "Twittah".
- Hoop Dawg has a season wrap up in a lot more words than I can express.
- And Daugman sums up my thoughts exactly on our early exit from Nashvegas.
- Greg has some communication he'd like to impart, from the line of scrimmage.
- From Blutarsky: Animal husbandry. Cousin lovin'. SEC nuptials. Sometimes they're closer than you think. Maybe that explains WarDamnTiglesmen.
- Dawg Haus looks at the 1984 clash 'tween the hedges of Georgia and Clempson.
- Meanwhile, Kimberly wonders who ya got for the season opener.
- The GymDogs finished the regular season with an impressive road mark.
- Diamond Dawgs...swept out of College Station.
- And the Men's Tennis team took care of the Gamecocks yesterday in Athens.
- Lastly, in case you missed it, make sure you craft beer drinkers catch my talk with Kevin at College Football Zealots. We even sneak in a little spring football talk.

So how was your St. Patrick's Day? Did you end up face down?... in a pool of your own green vomit?...in the middle of Savannah?...with nothing on but a ratty pair of green silk boxers?...three sizes too small?...

I didn't. I mean there were some moments when I guess it was touch and go. I did attend a beer fest after all. And spent a good part of yesterday comparing and contrasting Irish brewing techniques. The products of those techniques that is.

But I think the highlight was eating most of the weekend's meals outside on the patio with the family. There's just something about getting back to nature after being frozen over by these harsh Georgia winters. Like I said Friday...

Y'all have a great Monday. And rest assured I'll let you know when my daughter is signing autographs. Until then, here's your fork. Go on and get after it!

Bernie

February fretfulness precedes any madness

If next month is madness, this month has to be something else. Before you even get to a March Madness bracket you have to trudge through February with its groundhogs, bipolar weather patterns and chocolate covered, rose petaled holiday. It's hard to look forward to any March Madness 2013 betting when a rodent is trying to outdo the weatherman and your Valentine has the flu.

In short, February sucks.

Speaking of bipolar, there's also Georgia basketball. Hoop Dawgs dropped a hard one at home to Alabama last night to end an impressive winning streak. It was painful to watch (other than the first five minutes or so) and frustratingly recognizable. After 30 minutes of toils and troubles, continuously failing to find any answer to the Crimson Tide's luke warm attack, Fox's Dawgs finally ran out of time.

It was a disheartening loss for the team and fans alike. Fox was clearly agitated after the game and only gave an abbreviated post game press conference before leaving. It's just not a good sign for a team that is teetering on the brink of being all but eliminated from post season invites.

Still, there's promising signs as well. A team that was playing at its peak the last couple of weeks had chances to steal the win away at the end; they didn't just give up hope and falter completely. There was the run at the start that saw Georgia sprint to a early double digit lead, as well as the fact that the Dawgs out-rebounded the Tide 41-33. It's just that the hard work on the boards and the burst of points at key moments wasn't enough to produce a sixth consecutive win.

Personally, I have some heavy questions regarding the program on my mind. I keep shewing them out because they're not appropriate at this time. But they're similar to questions I've had for over 20 years. Yet the focus must remain on today. So now we must fret through some difficult road tests in Oxford, Fayetteville and Nashville plus a home tilt against the Gamecocks before we get to March's home stretch.

Will we still be in any post season discussion? I don't know. The door closed a little bit last night. It's harder to see now.

Five Reasons to Watch the Hoop Dawgs tonight

My 5am alarm was a pain in the ass this morning after a late night of double dosing on Montenegrin expressos. My reward...toothpicks to hold my eyelids open tonight during the second round against the 'Dores.


And I couldn't be happier. Here's why:

AP photo

1. Granted it's taken longer than we had hoped, but this team is playing well together. Real well. There will be matchup issues against the top tier talent of course. But Neme, GRjr and Donte Williams are really shining through. It's not just an offense that passes a couple times and hopes KCP can hit the jumper.


2. Coach Fox. There are definite lingering doubts about recruiting at a level to compete yearly, but the guy has proven he can coach. Real well. He has his team prepared, win or lose. I won't be surprised should we lose to the #3 seed tonight. But more importantly, I wouldn't be surprised if we won either.


3. Yet another rare chance to feed your intense dislike for Vanderbilt in hopes that it continues to grow into an intense hatred. Bigger d-bag, Kevin Stallings or James Franklin? Discuss.


4. Let's face it, basketball teams (actually any kind of team for that matter) that are in sync are more fun to watch. And the Hoop Dawgs are working the hardwood regardless of substitutions, foul trouble and the like. 
   “We’re finally comfortable,” Fox said. “We have got a rotation that guys are used to and I think we understand the roles that we’re playing.”


5. If you didn't see his first one last night, you might see Neme's second career DUNK!!! tonight. Go Dawgs!

If you need a better reason than those, I can't help you. Hand your pants back to your wife, cuddle up with her on the sofa and lemme know how Matthew McConnahey is doing.

BONUS: from @BassinDawg... Pope Montenegro.






DOUBLE BONUS: courtesy of DevereauxDawg....a 6th reason to watch - Dustin Ware has 997 career points. I have a hunch he'll surpass that tonight.

Hoop Dawgs send bizarros packing

Rick Stansbury can take his magnificent comb and his zone defense back to Starkville. Or wherever.


Coach Fox's Dawgs continued to ride the wave that was Neme Djurisic (11 points and 11 boards) and Gerald Robinson Jr. (23 points) as they dispensed with MSU 71-61. Once Dustin Ware (13 points, all in the second stanza) got hot from outside and around the arc, the cowbell clan just couldn't keep up.


On the left are the highlights. On the right is Coach Fox's presser.

The Butler did it...Go Dogs!

Guess I have a soft spot in my heart for bulldogs. Enjoyed these videos about the Dogs from Indianapolis.

When Mayne stood outside of the silent NCAA offices and asked us to "do the math". I came up with $180,000, don't know about you.

It was a great run for the Virginia Commonwealth Rams. They're the story of the tournament if you ask me. Terrific coach, incredible team. Tribute to Anthony Grant for recruiting those guys. But Shaka Smart deserves whatever fortune he's about to inherit.

Back on point, Go Butler. Hope they're the last team standing tomorrow night. The world can always use more Bulldogs.

Buzzer Sounds on HoopDawgs' Season

Game over. As the season went, so did the Dawgs only NCAA game. It was an edge of your seat ride full of heartbreak and thrilling play that often left lofty expectations unfulfilled. In a way this one tournament game was a microcosm of the entire season. The peak always seemed within reach, but the pitfalls were hell on the tailbone.


A few thoughts on the loss:

• I don't care what Kellogg is putting in your bowl, we didn't control the tempo much at all. We tried, but succeeded very little.
• And that's mostly because Washington was very quick. Their energy level seemed boundless but they were also methodically pressing the ball from all four corners.
• If the Huskies had shot the ball any better in the first half we probably would've been run out of the gym.
• For much of the second half, it was those other dogs that played like the higher seed that they were and as if they knew what tourney play requires. Our Dawgs just held on by a thread.
• And although Washington's frenetic style helped us stay in it at times, Coach Fox's squad refused to give up. But the rally fell one basket short.

I'm sure there's a lot of disdain out there about such a talented team falling short as well. But I'm choosing to remember this season for what it was: a bumpy road full of ups and too many downs that was a firm step in the right direction for a program that's desperately needed it for many years. 


Go Dawgs!

Dome Music

Beat Bama today and the melodies coming from the Georgia Dome will really be something we can dance to. I tend to think we're playing NCAA ball next week regardless, but it'd be nice to see Fox's Hounds have a more successful business-like performance than Saturday's against the Crimson Tide.


I didn't get a chance to watch a single minute yesterday. I caught the last 100 ticks of Scott Howard's voice on the radio. Promised Exile I'd follow the same exercise today...tomorrow...even Sunday if necessary.


So the ball is in Thompkins and Co.'s court. Two words - rinse, repeat.


Go Dawgs!

Monday's Meatloaf - Socializing with Winners

I remember when the only social network was the one that ended at the back of the neighborhood. And if you went back that far, it was only because your friends dared you to go touch Ol' Man Crazy's mailbox.

Socially...awkward.

Nowadays socializing has a much different meaning in many contexts. Case in point, I finally watched The Social Network the other night. If you're unfamiliar, it's the movie about how Facebook was created and the oh so many tangled webs it caused. It seems Mark Zuckerberg is quite the a-hole. Surprise! He enlists help from others then slowly cuts bait with them as they get less and less important in his life's endeavour.


Don't get me wrong, Zuckerberg is the driving force behind the website's creation. But intellectual property is a tremendously gray area. But as a show of respect, I decided to reach out to the little twerp; perhaps even invite him on my little blog here to help him gain some credibility in the online world. I figured the best and most appropriate way to do this would be to Friend him on BookFace. So I logged on, typed in his name and instantly his page link pulled up.


But I guess the BookFace owners get special privileges on their little social site there. You can only Like Zuckerprick's page as opposed to counting him among your actual cyber friends. How is he ever gonna get that thing off the ground that way? I mean, he's not even one of the official BDB BookFace page's Likers. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. If I can be friendly with Eminem or Lady Gaga...why can't I click steady with the guy who once blogged about his girlfriend's inferior genealogy and bra size?


But it may be for the best that Zuckerdouche and I don't cross paths. The whole time I was watching the movie I just kept thinking "this is the dude that introduced AJ to Chris Hawkins...what fantastic bag of fail".


I'd bet all of my friends' farm animals that Zuckersmuck ends up in the old dark house down at the end of the road in a couple of decades. Guess we'll know for sure when he updates his profile pic to include all those cats that come and go from his yard.

Today's Ingredients

• And no, that movie was no where near as good as Inception (and The King's Speech from what I hear). It was interesting, kinda cool to see how it all started and the trainwreck it has become legally (assuming it sticks closely to the actual story). But as far as a movie experience, I'll take Nolan's film every day of the week.
• Coach Perno spoke about his outfielder's injury. Continue to raise up your prayers and thoughts for Jonathan Taylor. When his status is updated I'll be sure to post. (UPDATE: Taylor had will have surgery to realign his spine this morning.)
• In the mean time, be sure and come by tomorrow for the official BDB Gwinnett Baseball Classic preview. If you still need tickets, you can still obtain them...HERE.
• Exile's SEC Power Ballot is out and he thinks a loss to Abuurn Thursday would leave us teetering. But perhaps that's just NIT picking.
• And hoopdawg also thinks 10 would be a number to dance to.
• Bubba 'n Earl are hosting a bracket challenge.
• Looking forward, Carvell looks at two future Dawgs who squared off against each other in the Class A playoffs.
• Felton's hounds ran that hardwood, and now the Thrillerdome may be an omen for Hewitt's fate...?? NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
• the Senator wonders if the new eating regimen is having a secondary beneficial impact. The Lady Sportswriter also weighs in.
• ecdawg has the 2011 helmet schedule.
• The AJC had a nice spring preview for CMRs squad. I went back later to grab it as an ingredient and can't find it. Their site needs less Zuckerberg Fail. (UPDATE: here it is.)
• In case you missed it, Noops is back on the blogroll and wants to know if you would tryout for a spot on Coach Richt's roster.
• In the wake of the BYU pre-marital sex scandal, both the school and Brandon Davies continue to get support. Click here to find out which side Timmy Tebow falls on.
• Last week Pittsburgh became the poster program for pugilism, and not in a good way. Now the former coach is defending the Panthers. 
• But Wannstedt's currently in Buffalo, so I think he's contractually obligated.

My distaste towards Zuckerberg is probably seasoned too heavily with my aversion to his little site. My wife and I have an agreement, she can have all the BookFace she wants as long as I get the Twittah. It's a far superior network and if there's any mafias hunting down livestock, it's evidently very low key. If these social networks were in high school, FB would be the popular kid at the table surrounded by hundreds of future soccer moms and college bound standouts.

If you've ever lost custody of your kids,
you're more "wild" than "winning".

Meanwhile, Twitter is chilling at the corner table spreading awesomeness like a cool breeze through a forrest of tree limbs. Catch it, breathe it in. Or simply let it pass by, a casual glance requires no commitment. Like when a former young gun goes public with his tiger blood, coked out habits and very non-BYU lifestyle...then decides to bring all that losing to Twitter, you can filter it out about as easily as his brother Emilio does. There's no reason log off or check your privacy settings' fine print.


But I wish those Harvard dropouts plus the Napster freeloader the best in their future endeavours. If it ever gets off the ground completely maybe we can all be friends. Until then I'll stick to a little saying that's popular within the boundaries of 140 characters:

BookFace is where you go to find out you don't like the people you know. Twitter is where you go to find out you like the people you don't know.

Before my mom and some others get their self all in a tizzy, it's not a hard and steadfast rule. But it's an accurate description for the most part. As for you, don't let Monday clog up your timeline Reader. Here's an extra napkin in case Sheen drips any winning on the buffet line ahead of you. Zuckerwhore will be around with the mop shortly.

Bernie

SEC Tourney Bracket

Plan accordingly.