Somewhere Between Heaven and Heels

"Who's that goat-legged fellow? I like the cut of his jib."
-- Monty Burns

The 2009 NCAA men's basketball final between the Tar Heels of North Carolina and the Spartans of Michigan State was played in Motown last night and from the outset, two burning questions remained -- Could MSU use its home court advantage to its... uh, advantage? And would UNC's Tyler Hansbrough blink at least once during this all-important game?

Time for The Clueless to Catch The March Madness

Every March, the NCAA Men's basketball championship tournament begins and because of a little thing called a "bracket," every office, classroom and bar in North America turns into the hoops gambling version of amateur hour. But why are Canadian sports fans so interested? Well, the excitement, skills and single elimination format certainly is enough to entice any athletic enthusiast, but it's the bracket that really gets people hungry for blood. There's really nothing like proclaiming victory and sports knowledge dominance over those that surround you in daily life. Right now, when the tourney is in its infancy and brackets are first filled out, everyone's an expert, and because the tournament is traditionally rife with upsets, anyone really can pick a winner. That said, Canadians generally don't attend university in the U.S. (unless on scholarship or find $40,000 to spare) so how does the casual to clueless demographic pick a favorite school to root for and/or bet on?

Athletes and The Twitterati: A Wish List

OK, so now that Twitter has officially gone mainstream and even your grandmother knows what it is, we're starting to see more and more reports of pro athletes tweet habits. By far the most active contingent is from the NBA, lead by Shaquille O'Neal (aka THE_REAL_SHAQ) who uses his 140 characters to do everything from talk trash to meet fans to give away game tickets at a local mall. Other pro ballers on Twitter include Toronto's Chris Bosh and Milwaukee's Charlie Villanueva, oh, and for Leafs fans there's also the fake Brian Burke.

So far, Twitter feels like a great way to get to know your favorite athletes, what their lives are like on a daily basis and if they have even just an elementary grasp of basic grammar. The Cheap Seats got to thinking about a few things, and right after we confirmed that a tit mouse was a real animal, we asked ourselves, "Which athletes would we like to see Tweet?"

Ditching the NBA for College Credit

It's March, and that means the focus of even the most casual hoops fan turns to the American college Tournament of Last Second Buzzer Beating Madness. Now, Adidas takes a few gentlemen who never got the opportunity to play in the big dance and gives them a chance to pull a Thornton Melon. The commercials imagine what Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Josh Smith and Dwight Howard would be like at the UCLA, Louisville, Pitt and Kansas of today. Impressive NBA stars all, but I just don't see any of them dropping a Triple Lindy.  

Check out the videos after the jump.

Live From Prison: Charles Barkley

As you may have heard, former NBA superstar Charles Barkley was arrested on a DUI charge in Phoenix, Arizona back on December 31, 2008 and was sentenced to three days in jail. Well, he began serving those three days on Saturday, but unlike most of his fellow inmates Sir Charles gave a press conference soon after his arrival. Not sure why, but hey, everyone loves a prison story.