The Thrill of Victory After 310 Tries

No. 1 for a night: Caltech's basketball team started losing before these guys were born.

March Madness is almost upon us. And for NCAA Division III teams the bracket is already out.

One school that will navigate the weird 61-team draw to experience the thrills of winning it all (I'm hoping it's my alma mater).

But, it's hard to imagine the feeling will be greater than what a fellow DIII school experienced last Tuesday.

Caltech, known for its brains not its brawn, won its first league basketball game in 310 tries. That's 26 years of being a doormat.

I've played on my fair share of bad teams from little league to high school and college intramurals, but I can't fathom a lifetime of conference losing.

The streak dated back to Jan. 23, 1985, before its current players were even born.

Google bound Ryan Elmquist hit the winning free-throw with 3.3 seconds left lifting his team to the 46-45 win over Occidental, starting a completely appropriate storming of the court celebration.

Caltech ended its season with five wins in all, none bigger than the fifth.

Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

It's been said big-time college stars like Auburn's Cam Newton or Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor—and Reggie Bush before them—are professionals in every sense of the word but one: they aren't paid.

NPR commentator Frank Deford said in November the most illuminating part of the Newton saga, was when Cam's dad said he didn't want his son to go to Mississippi State because there he would be, "a rented mule."

"A rented mule," Deford says, is the best definition of college athletes he's heard. Everybody (from the schools to the NCAA) makes money, except the athletes.

So what about the athletes?

The Newtons and Pryors of the world help create a financial system that allows 84 other players to be on the field with them on full scholarships. That's not counting all the other collegiate sports which rely on football money.

Of all Division I football players, about 99 percent have no hopes of making the NFL and have no free-market value tied to their skills. Yet, they are receiving free college educations.

Forget about whether or not they are actually going to class, just a few men from Auburn, and maybe a handful more from Ohio State, will be drafted and actually see playing time professionally. Very few college football players are being "exploited."

Start paying the Newtons their true "market value," and you're bound to cripple the entire system. The women's track team is just as dependent on college football as the 84 guys running out of the tunnel.

It's not worth killing amateurism in college sports just to pay 1 percent of star athletes what they'll make back in the long run.

Tigers Title Run Parallels Trojans Fall

Cam and Cecil's hug could prove to be a smoking gun.

The 2010 college football season is quickly becoming a distant memory, and for some Oregon fans it can't happen soon enough.

But in the year that saw Reggie Bush return his Heisman and USC vacate a championship, there was an odd parallel with the shenanigans at Auburn surrounding QB Cam Newton.

Somehow the NCAA decided Cam didn't know that his own dad was hustling his talent when he tried to sell his son to Mississippi State. As "punishment," nothing happened to Cam. But Cecil Newton ended up with "limited" access to the Auburn football program.

Of course, Auburn never publicly said what "limited" means.

Jump ahead to the day of the BCS Championship Game, Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs told the AP Cecil would not be in attendance. The decision was "mutually agreed upon," Jacobs said.

Four quarters later, Cam knew exactly where to go to share a hug with dad at the stadium. So much for limiting his access.

What does all this mean?

I think the celebratory hug shows the Newtons have a complete disregard for the rules. The NCAA investigation seems far from over, since due process doesn't exist in its realm.

Likely, once the dust has been collecting on the BCS title for several years, Cam Newton will return his Heisman and Auburn ship its crystal ball west.

Fear the Ultimate Playoff Beard

For someone who can barely grow a fuzz after a month of not shaving, I'm in complete awe of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Brett Keisel's beard.

It looks prehistoric.

Most know about teammate Troy Polamalu's long locks, but "The Beard" as it's called, has really come into its own in just the past few weeks. It has a Facebook page with 27,000-plus admirers and it's on Twitter too and was the talk at Super Bowl media day.

Like most athletes, Keisel explains his furry face as sort of a superstitious thing.

"I'm from Pittsburgh and we have a great hockey team and they grow their beards out," Keisel said. "In June, I was thinking that it will seven months if we make it to the Super Bowl. We are shooting for out seventh Super Bowl ring, and the Steelers were made in 1933, which is 77 years to date. I said I'd give this thing seven months and see if it will get us to Dallas, and here we are."

I really doubt the beard is unleashing some sort of super powers. However, it could be helping "The Diesel," the lineman's other nickname, channel his inner "Grizzly" Adams. Adams of course tamed massive bears, Keisel tames quarterbacks.

Win or lose, "The Beard" is going to go after Super Bowl XLV. Keisel's wife bought him a razor for Christmas (just a small hint).

So admire this ultimate playoff beard while you still can. It's pretty amazing.