Why NBA but not NCAA?

[Run BJM]

<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If you live in the US there is an abundance of college basketball coverage. ESPN has various packages you can order, and there's plenty of local coverage. Fox sports shows most of the Pac-10 games and ESPN also has games on ESPN and ESPN2, plus games on the weekend.

I keep reading "there's too many teams to follow." You don't have to follow all the teams, most people just follow the teams in their conference or conferences.

I like following the Pac-10 conference, because there's a lot of teams from California who play in it, and the conference has some of the best coaches, talent, and a rich history of basketball.</div>
Like I said above there's alot of games shown but I'm in the Bay Area I can't follow a Boston College or LSU because even though they are very good bball schools they only get a few games that I can see during the regular season (and I'm not spending money to get more TV channels, I don't even know if thats possible with basic cable). There's some good games in the Pac-10 but I just can't get excited watching Stanford vs. ASU or something like that. Cal games are watchable for me and UCLA and Arizona have alot of good players that are fun to watch but I;m not a fan of watching the Washingtons, ASUs, Stanfords, etc. unless they've got a dominating superstar or are playing in a close game and even so I'll change the channel if theres a semi interesting TV show or other sport event on.

 

[Shapecity]

RUN BJM, are you a fan of watching the Hawks vs. Knicks?

There's always going to be some meaningless games along the way in any sport. However, I'd argue there are more meaningless games in the NBA because it's a longer season. When teams with a record under .500 can make the post season, there's something not right about the NBA.

I'll admit I prefer watching the Lakers ahead of any college matchup, but besides the Lakers, I prefer watching college ahead of other pro teams. The learning curve is phenomenal for a lot of these players and it's entertaining to see how certain teams elevated their games to justify their March Madness seedings.

For example, last two seasons I watched both Cal and UCLA really make strides in their basketball programs. They played lockdown defense and were very efficient on offense. Cal vs. Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament was probably one of the best fundamentally sound games I watched all year long from pro or college.

When UCLA made their run in the tournament last year, I wasn't surprised like the rest of the basketball analysts. If they had paid attention, UCLA was one of the marquee teams in the country, because they could get defensive stops whenever the needed. And watching Luc Richard come out nowhere was the icing on top.

Also watching Indiana with Marco Killingsworth own Shelden Williams was another highlight game. It showed me first hand Shelden was going to struggle at the NBA level.

Why aren't you a fan of Washington? They've been producing solid teams the last few seasons. Nate Robinson was dynamic to watch, and last year the duo of Bobby Jones and Brandon Roy were great.

I guess I'm just not a big fan of one on one basketball, which the NBA has become. I prefer ball movement and watching players thrive in specific roles on the court. At the NBA level, individual talent is usually placed ahead of team achievement, and it's a reason why you see the same type of teams win the NBA title every year.

If you don't like ASU, I'm guessing you weren't thrilled about the Warriors drafting Ike Diogu? Because for his last two seasons at ASU, he was ASU basketball.

 

[Run BJM]

<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">RUN BJM, are you a fan of watching the Hawks vs. Knicks?</div>

No but they don't show those games nationally on TNT, ESPN, ABC, etc. I probably wouldn't have much problem watching that game either since both teams aren't too bad this year and have alot of young talent and pl ay with high energy and fast pace. I'd watch that before I watched two mid-major college teams in a game thats on ESPN 2.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There's always going to be some meaningless games along the way in any sport. However, I'd argue there are more meaningless games in the NBA because it's a longer season. When teams with a record under .500 can make the post season, there's something not right about the NBA.</div>

Agree that theres always meaningless games but theres more seemingly irrelevant games shown on FSN, ESPN 2, etc. from college bball than are shown for NBA ball.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'll admit I prefer watching the Lakers ahead of any college matchup, but besides the Lakers, I prefer watching college ahead of other pro teams. The learning curve is phenomenal for a lot of these players and it's entertaining to see how certain teams elevated their games to justify their March Madness seedings.

For example, last two seasons I watched both Cal and UCLA really make strides in their basketball programs. They played lockdown defense and were very efficient on offense. Cal vs. Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament was probably one of the best fundamentally sound games I watched all year long from pro or college.</div>

I prefer to watch other (non-Warriors) NBA teams in a game than to see two random college teams, its just my preference. Agree that Cal and UCLA have been fun to watch the last few years due to the talent, growth, and success of each team. Like I said its fun to watch the conference tourneys, NCAA tourney but theres something about regular season games that just doesn't do it for me. I think its more fun to be able to follow a team than to see a few games of each team.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When UCLA made their run in the tournament last year, I wasn't surprised like the rest of the basketball analysts. If they had paid attention, UCLA was one of the marquee teams in the country, because they could get defensive stops whenever the needed. And watching Luc Richard come out nowhere was the icing on top.

Also watching Indiana with Marco Killingsworth own Shelden Williams was another highlight game. It showed me first hand Shelden was going to struggle at the NBA level.</div>
Agree, I didn't follow college basketball that closely but any un-biased half tard could realize that UCLA was a top team in the NCAA. Massive east coast bias among analysts but thats nothing new of the major media. You get these idiots talking about how great Duke, UConn, etc. and Redick, Shelden Williams are so great. Makes me sick to be honest they're probably worse than the NFL analysts on ESPN

.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Why aren't you a fan of Washington? They've been producing solid teams the last few seasons. Nate Robinson was dynamic to watch, and last year the duo of Bobby Jones and Brandon Roy were great.

I guess I'm just not a big fan of one on one basketball, which the NBA has become. I prefer ball movement and watching players thrive in specific roles on the court. At the NBA level, individual talent is usually placed ahead of team achievement, and it's a reason why you see the same type of teams win the NBA title every year.</div>
I don't think I'm a fan of Washington because I'm a big fan of Cal and its hard to enjoy rooting for a team in the same conference (it'd be like me rooting for the Lakers in the NBA, lol). I Agree with enjoying the team play, which is why I love the NBA playoffs with LAC, Phoenix, etc. and finals with teams like SA and Detroit rather than teams like Miami and Dallas who run most of their plays to a few players and run Iso plays for alot of the game. I'm finally getting to see my Warriors play like a team a la the Suns so I'm really excited about this season whether we make POs or not.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If you don't like ASU, I'm guessing you weren't thrilled about the Warriors drafting Ike Diogu? Because for his last two seasons at ASU, he was ASU basketball.</div>
I don't really have anything against ASU, they're just generally boring to watch. Of course when they had Ike for a short period they had something to be excited about but other than that period they're a notch below alot of other teams they play in the Pac 10. I don't really mind that Ike came from ASU, if anything it makes me a bigger fan of ASU.

Just My Opinion.

 

[Courtking]

<div class="quote_poster">J_Ray Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How many players in the NBA do you see cry when they lose like Morrison did last year?</div>

These days, with LeBron walking off the floor with seconds left on the clock, you don't even get to see players at the end of the game.

I don't feel like re-highlighting the points that Shape and VC made, but...

NCAA >>>> NBA

 

[phunDamentalz]

OKAY, here's another reason for you green-afro wearing NCAA heads:

Ever noticed how the most important person in an NCAA game is the COACH? I'm trying to watch some gifted young kids drive to the lane, catch alley-oop passes, find their guy in the post, drop critical free throws, and I have to listen to some commentator talking about:

[COACH] has been so great for this school's program.
[COACH] has really turned things around.
[COACH] was devastated after losing to [OTHER TEAM] last year.
[COACH]'s wife just gave birth to their second daughter. Congrats!
[COACH] made a smart move by pulling such and such player.
[COACH]'s father was a HALL OF FAME coach, just a swell guy.
[COACH] is really impressed by this newcomer [Insert player name] and he's going to give him more minutes

If I wanted to know the inner personal life of a bunch of 40-something guys in ugly suits, I'd go to my office Christmas party.

 

[bbwTwinTowers]

I am more a fan of College ball. More passion and love, the pros play for their paycheck and the college players play for the win. The pros are about themselves and college players are a TEAM. I know not all pro players are not like that. Also the recruiting purpose for college is fun to watch.

 

[J_Ray]

<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">OKAY, here's another reason for you green-afro wearing NCAA heads:

Ever noticed how the most important person in an NCAA game is the COACH? I'm trying to watch some gifted young kids drive to the lane, catch alley-oop passes, find their guy in the post, drop critical free throws, and I have to listen to some commentator talking about:

[COACH] has been so great for this school's program.
[COACH] has really turned things around.
[COACH] was devastated after losing to [OTHER TEAM] last year.
[COACH]'s wife just gave birth to their second daughter. Congrats!
[COACH] made a smart move by pulling such and such player.
[COACH]'s father was a HALL OF FAME coach, just a swell guy.
[COACH] is really impressed by this newcomer [Insert player name] and he's going to give him more minutes

If I wanted to know the inner personal life of a bunch of 40-something guys in ugly suits, I'd go to my office Christmas party.</div>

I don't know what game you watched but most of the time you watch an entertaining game and listen to stories of how the kids got there, and what they've been through.

Like Adam Morrison was the 300 ranked recruit and Gonzaga stumbled upon him when they were scouting Pendergraph I think. They watched the first half and the assistant at half said to Mark Few " You want to start recruiting #(w/e it was)?" Mark few then said " Why, he looks uncoodinated, shoots funny, doesn't have much athletiscm, and can't play D.....how many points does he even have?" Assistant "30"

It's ridiculous to listen to all these lame excuses why NBA is better or why you can't watch or follow NCAA. You only need to pay attention to one team, not all 300+ like your saying. Sure there will be this team that come out of nowhere like George Mason, but that happens all the time even to the great college analysis, just ask Shape, VC, or C.K. I bet none of them even thought NW St. could have a chance against Iowa or even when George Mason played UNC, no one would of ever thought anything like that would happen. It's fun to see upsets, I love to see when fans storm the court after below .500 team just upset a top 25 team. I guess you guys just don't know what your missing.....

 

[Schaddy]

<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">1. There are too many teams.
2. Zone is boring.
3. The athletes aren't as good.
4. Less stylish players.
5. It's hard to know where all these colleges are. nba teams identify with a city. these college teams identify with a college, which if you're not in that college, doesn't mean much. it's hard to get behind some college team for a school that you didn't attend
6. NBA players have more love for the game
7. Manu, AI and Kobe don't play in college.

Are those enough reasons?</div>

I know everyone else already ripped this post to shreds, but I just have to comment on point #6. The fact that an NBA fan is going to sit here and try to convince me that college players lack the intensity and heart of NBA players makes me quite honestly never want to watch an NBA game again.

The biggest reason that the NBA isn't more popular than the NFL or other major sports, at least to me, is that CONSISTENTLY I see star players who don't give a flying **** about the game. They are <u>ALL</u> about making money, shoe contracts, self-promotion, etc etc. I am offended that it even enters a person's brain that the NBA players have more passion than college players. I guess that is a fundamental reason why more people don't watch college ball; they simply don't know anything AT ALL about it.

If you don't like college hoops, that's perfectly fine. I don't think everyone should watch it, because there were some good points in your post, phunDamentalz. Is the talent level better in the NBA than in the NCAA? Absolutely. There's no question. There are more international players, there are players who bypassed college, etc. The Badgers have probably only had 10 players in their history with NBA athleticism. I won't dispute that. But that's not why I watch.

I could type up a list of about 25 legit reasons why I think the NBA is the worst professional sports league, which is 100% what I believe. But that doesn't mean I'm going to hate on it by saying things like "LeBron isn't that good of an athlete" which is about the magnitude of what you said when you inferred that college players have less passion than NBA players.

Another thing that college basketball has in spades over the NBA is passionate fans. I'm not saying that there aren't the occasional NBA fans who are more involved in their teams than some college fans are, but overall, it's not even close. That in itself is something that I love about college ball.

To each his own, but at least give college ball its due. It's probably the most exciting non-pro sports exhibition. There are a ton of teams, and as we've seen, on any given day the worst team could beat the best. I don't know how it gets any better than college sports, but if you don't share that opinion, I don't mind. Just understand why people love college sports and respect them.

 

[phunDamentalz]

<div class="quote_poster">Schaddy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know everyone else already ripped this post to shreds, but I just have to comment on point #6. The fact that an NBA fan is going to sit here and try to convince me that college players lack the intensity and heart of NBA players makes me quite honestly never want to watch an NBA game again.

The biggest reason that the NBA isn't more popular than the NFL or other major sports, at least to me, is that CONSISTENTLY I see star players who don't give a flying **** about the game. They are <u>ALL</u> about making money, shoe contracts, self-promotion, etc etc. I am offended that it even enters a person's brain that the NBA players have more passion than college players. I guess that is a fundamental reason why more people don't watch college ball; they simply don't know anything AT ALL about it.

If you don't like college hoops, that's perfectly fine. I don't think everyone should watch it, because there were some good points in your post, phunDamentalz. Is the talent level better in the NBA than in the NCAA? Absolutely. There's no question. There are more international players, there are players who bypassed college, etc. The Badgers have probably only had 10 players in their history with NBA athleticism. I won't dispute that. But that's not why I watch.

I could type up a list of about 25 legit reasons why I think the NBA is the worst professional sports league, which is 100% what I believe. But that doesn't mean I'm going to hate on it by saying things like "LeBron isn't that good of an athlete" which is about the magnitude of what you said when you inferred that college players have less passion than NBA players.

Another thing that college basketball has in spades over the NBA is passionate fans. I'm not saying that there aren't the occasional NBA fans who are more involved in their teams than some college fans are, but overall, it's not even close. That in itself is something that I love about college ball.

To each his own, but at least give college ball its due. It's probably the most exciting non-pro sports exhibition. There are a ton of teams, and as we've seen, on any given day the worst team could beat the best. I don't know how it gets any better than college sports, but if you don't share that opinion, I don't mind. Just understand why people love college sports and respect them.</div>

okay read this for anyone who continues to spout this NBA players have no love for the game b.s.:

when i say more love for the game, there is a DIFFERENCE between watching kids, and that's what college players are, play with passion, many of whom will not play in the NBA and have lots of energy because who doesn't have lots of energy at 20 and hey "it would be fun to see if we can make some noise in the tournament", and 30-year old MEN who have already made their millions, have tried year after year AFTER YEAR to reach the top, and are striving to push past being jaded, pushing past failures in recent years, searching for that elusive glory. just because you're running around diving for loose balls doesn't mean you have more love for the game. it probably means your coach is on to you if you DON'T do that.

ANd it's very cynical to say there are lots of players in the NBA who ONLY care about money and sneaker contracts. How do YOU know this is true? Has there ever been a study about this? No. Your statment "CONSISTENTLY I see star players who don't give a flying **** about the game" is crazy - think about - how can you literally see a player not give a flying ****? can you give me one incident that PROVES a player doesn't care about the game? I can't think of one.

Also you really think if someone ONLY cared about money they would keep coming back to the league every year just to get a few more million???? That's probably not a fun job if you don't want to be there, let's face it. If you had say $30 million in the bank, would you go and play 82 games on a gruelling schedule, flying everywhere, not being able to party or chill out, listening to your coach screaming at you, being scrutinized in the media for a game you didn't give a flying **** about just so you could make an extra four or five million? Most people would take their $30 and retire..... that's real. At some point for even the dumbest athlete the penny drops and they realize they can only drive ONE Bentley at any one time.

if you're still not convinced, i think you should check out Maslow's pyramid of needs. The basic theory is that we all have needs starting with basic needs like food and shelter, then progressing up to success and self-actualization. once one level of needs is satisfied, we no longer need that item, and we move to the next step on the pyramid. People who HAVE financial success do not have the psychological NEED for financial success, instead their new need becomes SELF-ACTUALIZATION. in other words reaching your highest potential. This becomes a human NEED once all other needs are taken care of. This is the kind of need you see in NBA players, the need of self-actualization when money has been made, this is something you will never see in NCAA. THAT'S love for the game......

ONE OTHER THING: you might mention say Joe Johnson as an example of a guy who goes for MONEY over WINNING because he went from a 60-win team to a garbage team - and a FAT contract. WRONG. In fact this serves as a clear example of how intense self-actualization is. People say basketball is a team sport. It is ALSO an individual sport, if you don't believe that you are KIDDING YOURSELF. ANd guess what it always been.... When people talk about basketball history, they talk about individual stars more than the teams they were on. Yes, there is talk of the Celtics and Lakers dynasties, but there's more talk of individuals. Joe Johnson is aware of this fact and went to Atlanta to try and put HIMSELF in the history books. Steve Nash is also trying to put HIMSELF in the history books - yes, as an INDVIDUAL. And he's considered a team-first player. But make no mistake - in his head it's all about him. He's just smart enough to realize that HIS legacy will be much better if he plays a team-first game.

 

[Chutney]

Well on unrelated point, I've decided to pick a random team to follow this college basketball season, just because I've tried to watch a new sport every year so far. Also, I learnt that RaptorsNBATV (which I just ordered a month ago) will show a lot more NCAA games. I haven't decided yet, though. It will be a noticeable team, but not a powerhouse/overexposed team like UNC or Duke. And it will have a cool logo.

 

[Voodoo Child]

<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well on unrelated point, I've decided to pick a random team to follow this college basketball season, just because I've tried to watch a new sport every year so far. Also, I learnt that RaptorsNBATV (which I just ordered a month ago) will show a lot more NCAA games. I haven't decided yet, though. It will be a noticeable team, but not a powerhouse/overexposed team like UNC or Duke. And it will have a cool logo.</div>

Awesome!

Not to influence your decision or anything, but MSU's second leading scorer is a Canadian.

Some other guys from Canada who you might be interested in following (if that's what you're looking for, a reason to root for them) -

Ryan Wright - PF - UCLA (Misissauga, Ont.)
Sheray Thomas - PF - Kentucky (Montreal, PQ)
Maurice Joseph - SG - Michigan St. (Montreal, PQ)
Jevohn Shepherd - PG - Michigan (Toronto, Ont.)
Levon Kendall - PF - Pittsburgh (Vancouver, BC)
Theo Davis - PF - Gonzaga (Brampton, Ont.) * Injured, likely for the year.

 

[Chutney]

Thanks for the info, VC.

I think I'm going to follow UCLA this year. Aside from Gonzaga's Davis who's going to be injured for a while, they have the player that's closest to my area (Wright). But more importantly, they have two players that I remember in Afflalo and Mbah a Moute and will most likely make some noise in March. Since they're a well-known school they tend to get a good number of games covered up here, plus, if I enjoy watching them this year, they apparently have a very good center in Kevin Love coming in next year. And finally, they have a cool colour scheme.

 

[Schaddy]

<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">okay read this for anyone who continues to spout this NBA players have no love for the game b.s.:

when i say more love for the game, there is a DIFFERENCE between watching kids, and that's what college players are, play with passion, many of whom will not play in the NBA and have lots of energy because who doesn't have lots of energy at 20 and hey "it would be fun to see if we can make some noise in the tournament", and 30-year old MEN who have already made their millions, have tried year after year AFTER YEAR to reach the top, and are striving to push past being jaded, pushing past failures in recent years, searching for that elusive glory. just because you're running around diving for loose balls doesn't mean you have more love for the game. it probably means your coach is on to you if you DON'T do that.

ANd it's very cynical to say there are lots of players in the NBA who ONLY care about money and sneaker contracts. How do YOU know this is true? Has there ever been a study about this? No. Your statment "CONSISTENTLY I see star players who don't give a flying **** about the game" is crazy - think about - how can you literally see a player not give a flying ****? can you give me one incident that PROVES a player doesn't care about the game? I can't think of one.

Also you really think if someone ONLY cared about money they would keep coming back to the league every year just to get a few more million???? That's probably not a fun job if you don't want to be there, let's face it. If you had say $30 million in the bank, would you go and play 82 games on a gruelling schedule, flying everywhere, not being able to party or chill out, listening to your coach screaming at you, being scrutinized in the media for a game you didn't give a flying **** about just so you could make an extra four or five million? Most people would take their $30 and retire..... that's real. At some point for even the dumbest athlete the penny drops and they realize they can only drive ONE Bentley at any one time.

if you're still not convinced, i think you should check out Maslow's pyramid of needs. The basic theory is that we all have needs starting with basic needs like food and shelter, then progressing up to success and self-actualization. once one level of needs is satisfied, we no longer need that item, and we move to the next step on the pyramid. People who HAVE financial success do not have the psychological NEED for financial success, instead their new need becomes SELF-ACTUALIZATION. in other words reaching your highest potential. This becomes a human NEED once all other needs are taken care of. This is the kind of need you see in NBA players, the need of self-actualization when money has been made, this is something you will never see in NCAA. THAT'S love for the game......

ONE OTHER THING: you might mention say Joe Johnson as an example of a guy who goes for MONEY over WINNING because he went from a 60-win team to a garbage team - and a FAT contract. WRONG. In fact this serves as a clear example of how intense self-actualization is. People say basketball is a team sport. It is ALSO an individual sport, if you don't believe that you are KIDDING YOURSELF. ANd guess what it always been.... When people talk about basketball history, they talk about individual stars more than the teams they were on. Yes, there is talk of the Celtics and Lakers dynasties, but there's more talk of individuals. Joe Johnson is aware of this fact and went to Atlanta to try and put HIMSELF in the history books. Steve Nash is also trying to put HIMSELF in the history books - yes, as an INDVIDUAL. And he's considered a team-first player. But make no mistake - in his head it's all about him. He's just smart enough to realize that HIS legacy will be much better if he plays a team-first game.</div>

I'm going to end this in as civil a way as I can. I don't want to get vicious about this because obviously people here have different opinions about things.

If you don't like college ball, and you have your reasons why, that's fine.

If you don't like the NBA, and you have your reasons why, that's fine.

I don't know how you can tell me that I don't know some players don't care despite obvious signs, but then turn around and provide me insight as to why Joe Johnson and Steve Nash do the things they do, but I guess that's your reasoning. Likewise, I'd love to take a poll to see what percentage of NBA players (or pro athletes in general, LOL) know what Maslow's pyramid of needs is. Anyways, you enjoy the NBA, and I'll enjoy the NCAA.

 

[The Dream]

I don't really consider myself a "follower" of college hoops, but I do watch a reg. season game on occassion and I'm usually glued to the t.v. come tournament time.......I just prefer the NBA more, because you know that you're seeing the best of the best play.

 

[J_Ray]

<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Thanks for the info, VC.

I think I'm going to follow UCLA this year. Aside from Gonzaga's Davis who's going to be injured for a while, they have the player that's closest to my area (Wright). But more importantly, they have two players that I remember in Afflalo and Mbah a Moute and will most likely make some noise in March. Since they're a well-known school they tend to get a good number of games covered up here, plus, if I enjoy watching them this year, they apparently have a very good center in Kevin Love coming in next year. And finally, they have a cool colour scheme.</div>

UCLA is bad, it's a very bad decision

Go for Pitt, they're good, just not the Bruins

 

[TheFreshPrince]

<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Thanks for the info, VC.

I think I'm going to follow UCLA this year. Aside from Gonzaga's Davis who's going to be injured for a while, they have the player that's closest to my area (Wright). But more importantly, they have two players that I remember in Afflalo and Mbah a Moute and will most likely make some noise in March. Since they're a well-known school they tend to get a good number of games covered up here, plus, if I enjoy watching them this year, they apparently have a very good center in Kevin Love coming in next year. And finally, they have a cool colour scheme.</div>

Hve fun staying up until midnight watching all their games

College ball is by far the better sport. The passion is only about winning, not getting the big contract extension or anything like that. Plus, I love watching the gophers play the top big ten teams tough for a long stretch or go on a big run and sometimes even get the upset. Vincent Grier wa the one that got me back into Minnesota after Haskins screwed us over. He was an unknown JuCo player that out of no where became an all american. Players like this pop up every year. Like walk on Abu Shamala. Its so exciting. Plus being in MInnesota lets me watch all the big-ten schools which are always fun to watch in the tourney.

 

[Chutney]

<div class="quote_poster">J_Ray Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">UCLA is bad, it's a very bad decision

Go for Pitt, they're good, just not the Bruins

</div>
But then I can't complain about East Coast bias.