Powerhouse Sweet 16

This year's Sweet 16 features 13 of the 16 squads from Big Six conferences, and Cinderella is no where to be seen. The lowest seeded squad is Arizona at the #12 seed, and with 25 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances this Wildcat team is far from your average Cinderella. So here we are, in the round of 16, mere games away from the championship game in Detroit, featuring no Cinderellas but still plenty of firepower and story lines.


Duke v Villanova
Duke is the #2 seed, and ACC power with Coach K at the helm. However these preppy white kids barely got by inconsistent #7 seed Texas in the 2nd round, which leads one to believe that Coach K and his Dukies will have a helluva time stopping an extremely talented and athletic Villanova squad. The 4 guard offense of 'Nova gives defenses fits, and Dante Cunnigham has dominated in the post against both American and UCLA. Villanova shut down UCLA's vaunted offense, stifling Josh Shipp and Darren Collison, while making the Bruins look foolish on defense. If Villanova wins, a Big East team is most likely gaurunteed a spot in the Final Four out of the East region. If Duke can keep it close, and keep 'Nova from shooting the Blue Devil's out of the building they'll have a shot at making it back to the Elite 8. However, 'Nova seems headed back to the Elite 8 with the increasingly hot shooting from their guards and clutch performances by Cunningham.
Pick: Villanova

Pitt v Xavier
The Pitt Panthers haven't advanced past the Sweet 16 since 1974, but these top seeded Panthers look to buck the trend behind bullish big man DeJuan Blair. Xavier head coach Sean Miller left as the career assists leader at Pitt when he graduated in 1992, but now faces his alma mater in a pivotal Sweet 16 matchup. This is pivotal for both teams, if Pitt can get over the Sweet 16 hump and advance to play the winner of the 'Nova v Duke game this is a squad that has shown that it can bang with the best of them. Not only did Pitt emerge as a #1 seed out of the deep, talented Big East, but their MVP, DeJuan Blair, made UConn center Hasheem Thabeet look weak and foolish in the regular season. However Xavier is very athletic as usual, and is far removed from the mid major Cinderella it once was. Look for Xavier to try to neutralize Blair, and if the Musketeers can keep it a fast paced game look for Xavier to have a chance at pulling the upset.
Pick: Pitt


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WASWhKKQfY



Louisville v Arizona
Arizona is the lowest seeded team left in the tournament, and the #12 seeded Wildcats look to knock off #1 overall seed Louisville. Arizona is no Cinderella, having two lottery picks on the roster (Chase Buddinger and Jordan Hill) and an extremely easy draw so far in the tournament, only having to deal with an overseeded Utah and a suprising Cleveland St. squad. However, Louisville won the Big East for a reason. The Cardinals are deep, talented, and behind Rick Pitino look to finally break through and win a championship.
Pick: Louisville

Kansas v Michigan St.
Defending champs Kansas look to make it back to the big game, and face a Michigan St. team which comes out of the scrappy Big 10 conference. This Spartan team is extremely well tested, having to had play Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan in conference play, all tournament teams. A lot of people had Kansas falling early this tournament, considering the #3 seeded Jayhawks as upset fodder for second round opponent #11 seed Dayton or even first round opponent #14 seed N. Dakota St. However, Bill Self has rallied the troops and has led this young, rebuilding program back to the Sweet 16 with a legitimate chance at an Elite 8 appearance. That being said, this Michigan St. team is a traditional Tom Izzo coached squad. Look for the Spartans to suffocate Kansas with their defense, and the Spartans to advance to the Elite 8.
Pick: Mich. St.

Gonzaga v North Carolina
This matchup in the South region pits mid major powerhouse Gonzaga out of the WAC against a team most would agreeS boasts the best starting 5 in the nation in UNC. With point guard Ty Lawson Ok'ed to play against Gonzaga, UNC will feature Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansborough, and Danny Green. All are capable of a breakout game, and if Gonzaga isn't careful this game could get real ugly real fast. On the flip side, if the Bulldogs sink their 3s (all of their starters can shoot the long bomb) then this is a Gonzaga squad which can pull a big upset and join the Adam Morrison led squad from a few years back. But UNC has too much talent, depth, and
coaching to lose this early, so look for the Tar Heels to advance without too much trouble.
Pick: UNC



Syracuse v Oklahoma
Syracuse continues its magical late season run, which all began with its 6 OT win over UConn in the Big East tournament. Johnny Flynn and Co. ran all over a dangerous Arizona St. team featuring a top 20 player in James Harden, so these Orangemen are no joke. Although this Syracuse team lacks a true superstar, the 2003 championsip team featured Carmelo Anthony, point guard Johnny Flynn is one of the top floor generals in the nation and Eric Devendorf looks to once again channel Gerry McNamara. Unfortunately the Orangemen run into an Oklahoma team featuring the best player in the country in Blake Griffin. Averaging 30 points and 15 boards thusfar in the tournmanet, Griffin has looked every bit the projected #1 overall pick in this year's upcoming NBA draft. If Syracuse holds Griffin to 20 and 15 they might have a chance, and after six OTs can you really doubt the power of Orange?
Pick: Syracuse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcxgDSwK1FI&feature=related

UConn v Purdue
This game features a battle of the bigs, with the 6'10 JaJuan Johnson pitted against a player some experts are calling the next Dikembe Mutumbo, UConn center Hasheem Thabeet. Johnson has experienced a late season surge, and he has the Boilermakers in the Sweet 16. Look for Robbie Hummel and Johnson to give the Huskies all they can handle, but ultimately the 7'3 Thabeet and A.J. Price should be enough to land UConn in the Elite 8.
Pick: UConn

Memphis v Missourri
Memphis hasn't lost a Conference USA game in nearly 3 years, but the last time they did lose a conference game current Missourri head coach Mike Anderson was the head coach of UAB, who made the tournament in each of the last 3 years he was there. UAB was also the last school to beat Memphis way back in 2006. John Calipari has the Memphis Tigers back up and running after a near first round shocker against #15 seed Cal St. Northridge, and the athletic Tigers feature the dangerous Tyreke Evans. However, the Missourri squad coached by Anderson did win the Big 12, which also features the likes of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Missourri plays a 40 Minutes of Hell pressure D which can shut down opponents, and also came into the tournament ranked 6th nationally in scoring. If Missourri can slow athletic Memphis down, the Tigers out of Missourri can pull the upset. This one might come down to the wire, and look for Tyreke Evans to make the difference and pull out a gutsy win for Memphis.
Pick: Memphis

Bang the Drum Slowly

Team Korea is in the World Baseball Classic final against the winner of USA v Japan, and the scrappy, talented team out of the Republic of South Korea has taken the WBC by storm. As Korea marched into a Saturday night semifinal match up against Venezuela, the Korean fans, for a few hours, turned Dodger Stadium into downtown Seoul. Beating their drums and waving their thundersticks, this overwhelming show of support and national pride prompted Venezuela's manager Luis Sojo to remark that, "For a minute, I thought we were in Korea."

The national pride displayed by the fans was mind blowing, and a 10-2 beat down of Venezuela proved that this team out of South Korea is no fluke. This Korean team, led by a manager you've never heard of, starring exactly ONE major leaguer. As Korea jumped up, tacking on 7 runs by the 3rd inning, you couldn't help but think of the disparity between major league names on both rosters. Venezuela featured 22 current MLB players. Korea featured an aforementioned 1. Throughout the game the fans never ceased in shouting their national pride loud and proud, and the drums were present throughout the whole game. A constant, pounding presence, which would continue inning after blowout inning.

Funny to think that Korea will be in the WBC final, and the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Cuba will not. Teams studded with MLB All Stars and well known managers and coaches will not be there at the end. But Korea will. And this team is no Cinderella, with talent clearly rivaling those of the teams they defeated to reach the finals. Mexico, Japan, and Venezuela all featured multiple MLB stars, yet game after game, inning after inning, and pitch after pitch, the unknowns from Korea gutted out wins and opened up eyes all around the world.

One might ask, why then are there so few Koreans in MLB? The answer is simple. South Korean players in the Korean Professional League must wait 9 years to free agency, and this free agency does not feature a posting process that brought names like Ichiro Suzuki, Daiske Matsusaka, and Hedeki Matsui from Japan to the US. This WBC has shown the world what Korean players are made of, and this is a good thing. Maybe now more Koreans will jump to the big leagues, and maybe, just maybe, more big league clubs will send scouts to the small Korean peninsula. One must look no further than former All Star Chan Ho Park, whose electrifying run with the Dodgers gave MLB a taste of what could be to come.

So here's to Korea winning it all. And maybe even teaching the rest of the world a lesson or two about passion and dedication.

March Madness

The field of 65 is set for the annual NCAA college basketball tourney otherwise known simply as March Madness. Number 1 seeds went to Louisville, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, and Connecticut, with upsets brewing in multiple match ups. Far from last year's tourney, which featured all the #1 seeds advancing to the Final Four, this year's edition promises an uncertainty and everything from the improbable to the impossible which gave the tournament its moniker.

While a #16 seed may not topple a #1 this year, there remain several upset possibilities in every region. And with the topsy turvy regular season which has featured upsets galore, or extreme parity depending on your viewpoint, including an unranked Michigan squad ( currently a #10 seed) beating then top #5 ranked powerhouse Duke ( now a # 2 seed). With this in consideration, on any given day, between any two given teams, any given player can get hot and lead their team to a monumental team. This is the one time of year when David regularly topples Goliath, where teams like Western Kentucky and Cleveland State have national relevance.

Historically, there has been a major perception that upsets occur more often in certain seeded matchups than others. The #5-#12 or #6-#11 first round game usually produces an upset somewhere in the 4 regions, and this year may be no exception. The #12 seeds this year include well coached, strong basketball programs such as Arizona, Wisconsin, and one of last year's Cinderellas Western Kentucky who hope to make a return visit to the Sweet 16. Expect #12 seed Arizona, led by NBA ready guard Chase Buddinger, to give #5 seed Utah all kinds of trouble and possibly pull the traditional 5-12 upset.

The formula for success in the NCAA tournament has remained constant, regardless of talent level or program size. Great guard play and veteran experience and leadership tend to give a team the edge, with 3 point shooting a HUGE factor in the outcomes of most early round games. This was evidenced by last year's surprise Davidson, which was led by Stephon Curry. They missed the tournament this year, but they proved with good guard play and 3 point shooting a team can advance far beyond the restraints of its talent level. This makes teams like #6 seed UCLA, featuring a veteran guard corps led by Darren Collison and Josh Shipp and a team 3 point percentage of over 40%, and #4 seed Gonzaga, with every starter capable of draining the long bomb, terrors to play in this single elimination format.

Although the NCAA format for deciding the basketball national champion is the fairest way, at least compared to the other NCAA sports, to crown the national champ, the best team does not win all the time. In 1996, with #13 seed Princeton out of the Ivy League facing defending champs UCLA, the Ivy League boys took down the Bruins on the strength of what CBC commentator Gus Johnson would later claim as, "Guys who never made 3s were making 3s. It seemed like every player who played for Princeton that day had the best of their career." The George Mason team, which won the Patriot League to enter the tournament, advanced to the Final Four, and in the process destroyed millions of brackets, will always remain a great story and set a new standard for mid majors across the country. But no one will say that they were better than the UConn squad, which featured future NBA stars such as Hakim Warrick, who they upset to reach the Final Four. Perhaps they were better that day, but if those two teams met 10 times UConn would likely win 9 out of the 10. But that remains the beauty of March Madness. You don't have to best team with the best players or the best coach to win. If #3 seed Kansas stumbles and loses, again, to a #14 seed, this year's edition is North Dakota State, no will say that North Dakota St. is a better team and more talented then the Jayhawks. They were simply the better team on that day.

So when filling out your brackets keep in mind that its not the seeding or the talent level which is the predictor of winners and losers. Watch out for where the venue of the game is located. Fan support can mean the difference between a 1 point win and a 1 point loss, and this same support can lift a #11 seeded VCU squad over an experienced UCLA team on any given day. Keep in mind that someone can get hot and shoot their team to an undeserved upset. Names like Syracuses's latest reincarnation of Gerry McNamara, Devandorf, and Purdue's sharpshooter, Robbie Hummel, will be kicked around about million times from now until the end of the tournament if their teams advance on virtue of the 3. And above all never expect anything. While last year all the top seeds advanced, this year has featured upsets left and right, and one again, the moniker March Madness is not simply a token title. Just like George Mason shocked the world two years ago, a team like Cleveland State may do the improbable. Remember, anything may be improbable but nothing is impossible.

And if anyone's looking for a $5 pool to join, see Eugene Park, for those who go to Northview High School, for a bracket.

GAME OF THE YEAR

Syracuse 127 UConn 117. This instant classic went to six...count 'em SIX overtimes becoming the second longest game in Division I basketball history. The game counted for the longest in Big East history, and the game was rebroadcast on ESPN Classic later that same day.

For those who watched the game, when Syracuse guard Devendorf, sending out echoes of Gerry McNamara throughout Madison Sqaure Garden, grabbed a home run pass, tipped by two players, and sank a desperation 3 from NBA range, it was for intents and purposes over. Watching live, the shot looked good, but replay revealed that the ball was on his fingerprints when the clock hit all zeros. To think, if only Devendorf had clipped his fingernails the shot might have been good. To be honest, maybe the ball had physically left his fingers, by the slimmest of margins, but nonetheless the refs made the only call possible by the human eye and instant replay.

It wasn't the clutch shots, or even the big time players making big time plays which made this Big East tournament game "one of the greatest college basketball game EVER". It was that a combined 8 regulars from both teams fouled out. It was Syracuse point guard Johnny Flynn playing 67 minutes. It was everyone on their feet for all 6 OTs and nobody leaving. Or maybe it was Syracuse walk on Justin Thomas coming into a Big East tourney quarterfinal game after not playing a single second. Or perhaps that UConn's interior defense looked like a sieve after Hasheem Thabeet fouled out. It could have been Hall of Fame coaches Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun, with 1598 victories and 3 national titles between the two, facing off matching wits with the lowest of the reserves running the court. But most likely it was the heart and passion with which players from both teams displayed in fighting till the final whistle. In a game which ran 3 hours and 46 minutes, and stretched over 6 extra overtimes, none of the players ever gave the indication of giving up. It wasn't for anything of much importance, at least nothing like an NCAA berth at stake. Both squads stood as virtual locks into the field of 65. It was playing basketball for the sake of the game. The game was played to win, pure and simple. For once we saw a group of basketball players playing simply to win the game. Not to win a contract, a big endorsement deal, or anything else other than to WIN.













For those at home, the game served as a sweet reward to those who stayed up to nearly 2 AM to finish out the game. Watching overtime after overtime after overtime. Seeing walk on Justin Thomas come into the 5th overtime waving his arms around on defense, jumping around and infecting the other Syracuse players with a newfound energy was in a word, joy. To see the nation's young players playing with such passion and energy, fighting through fatigue and injury, was enough to bring even the most cynical of sports fans to tears.

So here's to the Orangemen and their future play. Here's to Justin Thomas. Here's to Johnny Flynn. Here's to Devendorf pulling a McNamara in the NCAA Tournament. And here's to basketball, long live the game.

Clip of the Week

Mike Sexton makes a BRILLIANT call against Mike Matusow. Daniel Negreanu didn't even see this one coming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6sv1lwWg7Q&feature=related

"Its a Miracle"

The men who play for the Netherlands this World Baseball Classic had no expectations. Their best potential player, Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens, opted not to play, saying that, "I don’t want to go there for one game and come back." They were group of misfits, outcasts, and youngsters. No one expected them to compete, not with a group of has beens featuring the likes of washed up major leaguers Randall Simon and Sidney Ponson. This was a team with a no name manager and roster full of players from the Hoofdklasse, the Dutch professional league, where salaries average out to about $2000 a month.

Their opponent was a powerhouse Dominican Republic squad which featured MLB All Stars David Ortiz, Jose Reyes, Carlos Marmol, and Hanley Ramirez, and led by former major leaguer and former Expos and Giants manager Felipe Alou. To say that this was a lopsided battle would be an understatement.

Players from the Hoofdklasse don't get hits off an All Star reliever in extra innings. They don't win games behind starting pitching led by an overweight pitcher who ate his way out of the majo leagues, and they certainly don't beat a national team from a country dubbed the Baseball Republic.

But somehow they did. Led by a few has beens and a bunch of never wases, the Dutch managed to pull the greatest upset in international baseball history prompting the "no name manager" to say that, “It’s a miracle. That’s all I can tell you. Our guys came together as a team, and miraculously we won. It’s not because we’re better than they are. They’re one of the best teams in the world. Collectively we just played hard, and it happened. I can’t tell you. Other than it’s a miracle.”

At Hiram Bithorn Stadium, this overmatched, undertalented Dutch team beat a powerhouse squad featuring numerous All Stars in front of a hostile crowd, yet the euphoria goes far beyond this upset of epic proportions. It was chance for redemption for some, a chance to prove themselves for others. This redemption comes for former All Star Randall Simon who is now known best as the guy who slugged the sausage race participant in Milwaukee a few summers ago. It comes for a pitcher, once promising, who is now out of a job as he neglected to grow up and simply couldn't push the plate away. The chance to prove remains for the many youngsters on the roster who are chasing major league dreams and others who wouldn't stand a chance to crack the roster of most other teams in the WBC.

After their first victory over the Dominican Republic, a 3-2 victory behind Sidney Ponson, most wrote the victory off as opening game rust for the powerful Dominican squad. No more. With their 2-1 win in 11 innings, the Dutch have eliminated one of the most talented teams in the WBC and move onto the second round in Miami. More importantly, this vindicates the WBC, and adds renewed fevor to a lagging tournament.

Games like this give hope to underdogs everywhere, not to sound cliche. This wasn't even a case of David v Goliath. At least David had a sling shot. This was heart over talent, this was Princeton over UCLA, George Mason in the Final Four, and "Do you believe in miracles?!" all rolled into one. This was epic, as epic as a baseball game can be.

So here's to the Netherlands. Here's to Randall Simon, Sidney Ponson, and Yurendell DeCaster. Here's to the little guy. Go Dutch.

Story of the Weekend

A pivotal game for both squads, Alabama had to travel this Sunday to Knoxville to play the favored Tennessee Volunteers. With both teams jockeying for position in the NCAA tournament, better known as March Madness, it was destined to be a close fought game all the way. This proved to be true as Alabama upset Tennessee on the Volunteer's home floor 70-67 in a game decided in the closing seconds.

But the reason this story is more than simply a closely fought college basketball conference game are the events which led up to wild finish. Anthony Brock, a junior guard for Alabama, came off the bench to score 11 points in 15 minutes, including the desperation 3 to win it for the Crimson Tide at the end of regulation. However, Brock nearly never made it to the game.

You see, Anthony Brock happened to be in Little Rock, Ark. on Saturday for his grandmother's funeral. Amidst this heartbreak however, Brock still planned to fly to Knoxville, Tenn. for the aforementioned game. Great story right? But the story gets all the more unbelievable as Brock missed his flight from Little Rock to Tennessee. Not only that, but the game was scheduled for the next afternoon. This potential debacle was avoided by an act which defied conventional wisdom, and in the midst of family tragedy showcased a pure example of family love.

“We had a flight for him … and he missed it so he drove all night to get here,” Alabama coach Philip Pearson said. “The first time I saw him was about 8:30 this morning and he said, ‘Hey, what’s up coach?’ His cousin drove him all the way to Knoxville.

"I’ve got to meet this cousin.”

The distance from Little Rock, Ark. to Knoxville, Tenn. is about 481 miles.

The Radioactive Man

Recently the Dallas Cowboys announced that Terrell Owens had been cut from the roster. However, Terrell Owens is, at 6-3 and 224 pounds, a physical specimen still capable of Pro Bowl caliber play. Owens is as gifted as any wide receiver to grace the gridiron, yet has been cut loose by all 3 teams he has starred for. Whether it was jawing at Jeff Garcia in San Francisco, feuding with Donovan McNabb in Philly, or refusing to cooperate with Tony Romo in Dallas, Owens has gained a reputation as a locker room cancer and "bad" teammate.

Its easy to simply label Terrell Owens as another mega talented wide out with an oversized ego, but that would be unfair to the player most know simply as TO. A 6 time All Pro selection, Owens is second to only Jerry Rice in receiving TDs and holds the NFL record for most receptions with 20 in a game against the Bears. Yet a Super Bowl has remained elusive for the Pro Bowl wideout, even as he has jumped from squad to squad, from Pro Bowl QB to Pro Bowl QB, in search of the ultimate prize. No martyr, much of the negativity swirling around TO has been self inflicted. Whether it was insinuating that Jeff Garcia was gay in a Playboy interview following the 2003 season, or making the "wasn't the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl" remark in contract negotiations with the Eagles, TO has brought controversy to every team he has played for.

While no one will accuse TO of taking plays off, ahem Randy Moss, and no one doubts his Hall of Fame talent and production, he has been like an old, slowly failing nuclear reactor. The allure of the power and energy is great enough for a team to take a chance on him, the Eagles once gave him a 7 year, $49 million contract and the Cowboys gave him 3 years and $25 million even after the entire Philadelphia debacle, the nuclear winter after his assured meltdown is a great cost to pay for a few years of production.

Terrell Owens will never be mistaken for a model teammate or team leader. But the facts remain, TO has never run into legal trouble off the field and NO ONE will doubt that he will retire as one of the greatest players to play the game. Amidst the allegations and feuds with every QB he has played with, one almost forgets that Jeff Garcia needed TO a lot more than vice versa. During their 5 year run from 1999-2003, Garcia made the Pro Bowl 3 times, and achieved career highs in TDs(32) and passing yards(4278). Since then, Garcia has bounced around with 4 times in the last 5 seasons, never again regaining the Pro Bowl form which allowed him to become one of league's more popular quarterbacks. Everyone remembers McNabb feuding with TO, but no one seems to realize that McNabb has led the Eagles to exactly ONE Super Bowl appearance. Guess who the Eagle's primary wide out was that season?

Terrell Owens will remain vilified by those fanbases in Dallas, Philly, and San Francisco, yet no one seems to appreciate a genius at work. However to those who see the true greatness of TO, his vindication will come one Sunday afternoon in Canton, Ohio as the words, "Terrell Owens, Football Hall of Fame inductee" are proclaimed to the world.

Cheater Cheater

Throughout history, cheating has been glorified as an easy way to success. None more so in the high stakes world of professional sports. Whether it be sneaky deals on the side or out and out rigging a deck of cards, cheating has existed as long as sports have been around. Even the King himself, Richard Petty, once quipped that, "If you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin." This adage has been taken to heart in nearly every sport, ranging from the NBA to the WSOP.

Tim Donaghy. Ben Johnson. The 1919 Black Sox. Barry Bonds. The list goes on and on. Yet cheating has continued, used as a shortcut or an advantage. And the cheating is not simply limited to the lower levels of sports, as the list of proven cheaters include the "best and the brightest" of every sports, ranging from baseball's career home run leader, Olympic gold medalists, and NBA referees. Movies have been made, glorifying cheating as a shortcut to success and riches, including 8 Men Out and Rounders.

A few have gone above and beyond the norm for cheating, giving a bad name to cheaters, scoundrels, and scam artists everywhere. So without further ado, here's a few of the most insane sports scams ever pulled off.


Spain rigs the Paralympics
To put this scam into perspective, the Paralympics are just like the Olympics. Except for people with disabilities. Who would sink so slow as to rig a competition against people with mental and physical disabilities?
The answer? The Spanish. Sad is it sounds, the players on the Span's gold medal Paralympic basketball team turned out to be perfectly healthy, or at least not mentally or physically handicapped.

Undercover journalist Carlos Ribagorda ended up breaking the story. Some may think that only one or two players on the squad were ineligible to play, but that gives the Spanish way too much credit as moral and credible human beings. 10 of the 12 players on the basketball team had no handicap. They just didn't make the cut for the Olympic team is this blogger's best guess.

Press Brothers...errr Sisters

This Olympic mystery has never actually been verified, and the Press sisters retired as Russian heroes. However, if the Press "sisters" weren't men, they were pretty close. Not to demean women in any way, but there are some things men are better than women at. Namely throwing heavy objects long distances.

Tamara Press, the older sister, was one of the top female athletes in shot put and discus from 1958 until her retirement. Irina Press dominated in track and field. During this era of dominance, the Press sisters won five Olympic gold medals, one silver, and several other medals in several assorted competitions. Through all of this the sisters also managed to set 26! world records.

Now, the Press sisters can not be called cheats solely because they accomplished all this in merely two Olympic appearances, especially as we bask in the aftermath of Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals, a new Olympics record, at the 2008 Beijing Games.

However, many people were already questioning the accomplishments of the Press sister as well as their physical appearance. Not only this, even in the 1960s the Press sisters were occasionally derogatively referred to as the "Press brothers". The conspiracy theories varied from the sisters being hermaphrodites to accusations of the use of male hormones. After their second Olympics appearance, it was announced that gender testing would be introduced. The Press sisters retired immediately after.

The pair were never proven to be anything but extremely beastly women who happened to look very much like men. However, you can be the judge of that.



















Tour de France Hijinks
Riding in a car during a bike race would be a really effective method of winning the race, except for its exceedingly idiotic blatancy. One might think that unless you hear the story of cyclist Acouturier.

In 1904, during the second Tour de France, Hippolyte Acouturier thought he had found a foolproof way to sidestep those meddlesome rules that were impeding his chances of winning with little or no effort. However, he can't really be blamed, since the Tour de France back then was consisted mostly of smoke and mirros, with a little bike racing in between the tricks and out and out cheating. Cyclists often resorted to extreme measures, even using nails and broken glass on the race path and putting itching powder in the other cyclists' shorts. Angry mobs could also be counted on to attack competitors as well. Basically bike racing was about a million times more entertaining back then.

Acouturier was a bit more moral than your typical Tour de France cheater, listening Floyd Landis?, and he decided against endangering his fellow riders. Instead he came up with a plan borne of pure genius and insanity.

He didn't simply grab a bumper of a car and hold on to cruise to victory. Instead, the cyclist tied a wire to the car, and tied a piece of cork to the other end which he would hold securely. This next part is where the genius came in. He held the cork with his teeth. While the plan worked somewhat, Acouturier won 4 of the then 6 stages, he still lost the race, losing to another cyclist who turned out to be also cheating. In fact the Tour de France officials ended up disqualified the 4 top finishers, awarding the victory to fifth place rider Henri Cornet. Cornet was apparently the only one to cheat in a way that wasn't overtly blatant or completely insane.

These are but a few of the many unbelievably insane sports scams ever to be attempted. No competition or sports is safe, no matter how sacred. The Olympics, the Tour de France, and even, yes as I mentioned, the Paralympics have all been touched by scandal at one point. So here's to all you cheaters, yes I'm looking at you Andrew Ahn (just kidding), may you continue to be caught and severely punished.