Coping with the Hangover...at the Water Cooler

Ugh. It's been a slow start to the week. If you're like me, you're still reeling from the weekend; a couple birthday celebrations led to a drink or twelve, and very little sleep. As if that weren't overwhelming enough, we were all the while enduring the onslaught of March Madness' first round and its non-stop clusterfuck of action. There were an overwhelming number of upsets over the NCAA tournament's first weekend (at least you're not the only one with a busted bracket), leaving an interesting mix of perennial favorites and complete nobodies in the Sweet 16. It was a great run; close to forty hours of top-tier televised basketball in one weekend's a thrill unmatched anywhere else, but I'm feeling a little overserved, like I just left Ponderosa on a serious munchies run. Or maybe like Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in that scene from Wedding Crashers where they're collecting dust on the Washington Monument steps; bathing in the glory of their own excess. It was awesome, but I'm seriously burnt out and could use a change of gears for a second; a time out, a little water...leading us to, well, you know.

- Who impressed this weekend? The #1 seeds (with an obvious exception) came out pretty strong, especially in the second round with Syracuse and Kentucky delivering the kind of statement games that would startle any field, let alone one as, well...for lack of a better word, weak as this one. St Mary's look to be the safest bid for a Cinderella (God that sounds stupid. I used that term solely to point out how dumb it is) at this point, balancing nice shooting and stingy defense with the rock-solid play of Omar Samhan in the post. Please believe I'm rooting for them. And it's spelt P-o-ndexter, better remember. Then we'll get to Farokhmanesh.

- Back in the NBA, things are heating up for the home stretch as teams jostle for position now that the teams advancing to the postseason are more or less set. There's still room for Chicago to sneak up on the 8 seed (never underestimate the ability of the Raptors to blow it down the stretch) especially with the recent returns of Joakim Noah and Derek Rose to key an 11th hour push. Out West, the Spurs and Blazers continue to fight for the right to lose to the Lakers in the first round, while Denver seems to be the only team who really wants the bridesmaid's dress with Utah and Dallas beginning to lose the furious momentum they built up last month. Myself, I'm closely following the Nets and their backwards race against the wrong side of history. Shit, they didn't even look like the League's worst team THIS year...

- More irrelevantly, it seems Dwight Howard's feelings are a little hurt after a recent public lashing from Skip Bayless came on the heels of his over-hyped rivalry with Shaquille O'Neal hit (what I hope is) its apex a few months ago:

"I think everybody has a problem with anything I do on the floor. We got to the Finals last year with the same way I played this year. I'm not going to change who I am, I'm not going to change my personality. I'm not going to change anything about me. I've been playing basketball since I was three years old. I never changed one part of myself in this game. I've gotten a lot better since I've been playing basketball, but one thing that has always been consistent is I'm going to have fun out there. Basketball brings me joy. I don't care what people say about me smiling too much or having too much fun. Hey, I'm doing something I love. I'm going to be thankful and have fun doing it. ...

"I don't know what he could possibly say. Scottie Pippen said things, also Skip (Bayless). I know in order to win you gotta work hard and that's one thing that I do. I work extremely hard on both ends. I might have nights where I might not shoot the ball as well but I'm still going to work hard, I'm still going to play defense and do all the small things. Numbers don't lie...

Only people that we have to listen to are our coaches. Those are the guys that get paid to make us better players. Skip, he's called everybody out. He's called LeBron "Prince James." LeBron's one of the best players in the world, and he doesn't think LeBron is good. It's somebody just talking."

It's easy to see why Dwight feels he needs to be on the defensive, but I hope he gets used to the fact that this kind of criticism's just part of the spotlight, especially as a young player. People are going to call you out, start beefs, nitpick at your game and question your leadership; it's the nature of superstardom, you think Kobe, Vince and T-Mac haven't heard the hate out of everyone from players to analysts to the dude who's ten beers deep and two rows behind the visitors' bench?

Dwight, you're (apparently) a nice guy and pretty ridiculous basketball player. Don't change who you are, don't change your personality, but try delivering that offensive set you always give the Cavs with a little more consistency.

- Even more irrelevantly, some journalist in Miami wasted Dwyane Wade's time with a question about whether a shout out in the Jigga's patriotic anthem Empire State of Mind would factor into his free agency decision this summer. As flattered as Wade was, there's no music good enough to inspire someone to want to sign with the Nets.