It’s so rare that I get to use the word “cunt” with a clear conscience. But thanks to Paul Silas… here we go, baby. It’s cunt time!

You may have seen a little note somewhere yesterday about Paul Silas apologizing for a remark, that never actually bothered to mention the remark. That’s because newspapers can’t print the word “cunt.”

A reporter asked Silas about Boozer returning to Cleveland for the first time since bolting for Utah, and Silas said, “See You Next Tuesday.” The reporter had no idea what he meant… and I wouldn’t have, either. So he asked for further explanation. Silas spelled it out for him. “C. U. Next. Tuesday.”

Apparently, that’s a pretty standard way to call someone a cunt underhandedly. This website advocates the method, and gives many examples of how it can be used.

Excellent work, Paul Silas. This kind of thing doesn’t happen every day. It’s hard to even get Shaq and Kobe to say something substantive about each other. I mean, the media goes crazy when Shaq makes some brick wall/Corvette analogy… and here we’ve got a head coach calling a player a cunt. It doesn’t get much better than that.

These remarks he thought were off-the-record got out, and then his Creighton Blue Jays lost in the NCAA tournament. Probably not a great day for Paul Silas. But hey, at least he can look forward to getting shitcanned in the offseason.

Man… not a good day for Mark McGwire. How bad does he look right now? Is there anyone out there who believes that he hasn’t had a few syringes in his ass? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Being on the brink of tears while reading an innocuous opening statement was a pretty rough start. If he doesn’t have something on his conscience, I don’t know why he’s crying at that point. The man was just hurting… I almost felt bad for him. And then when the questions started coming, and he wouldn’t answer… that just doesn’t look good.

And I don’t buy his argument that if he says he didn’t do steroids, no one believes, and if he says yes, he risks public scorn. Y’know, Rafael Palmiero looks pretty good right now. I think most people are of the opinion that Raffy is clean. I think most people are now of the opinion that Mark McGwire has been shot up like a heifer on a Burger King farm.

On one hand, I didn’t kinda want to see McGwire be exposed. A little bit of schadenfreude on my part. Hey, I never said I was a good person. But if Barry Bonds is going to be raked over the coals, McGwire probably deserved it, too. But now that it’s happening, I kinda feel for the guy. Even though he did the ‘roids, he did work hard, I think his accomplishments meant something to him, I think it meant something to him to help restore baseball’s image… and all of that, in one day, is pretty much shot to hell.

When he sees the tape of himself hitting his home run, and picking his kid up, that’s probably not going to be a happy memory anymore. That should be beautiful. But if his name gets dragged through the mud, if his records are stricken, if the public turns on him… he’ll probably never want to see it again.

Would he deserve that? Maybe. I dunno. That’s not for me to say, but… I know I wouldn’t wish that feeling on many people.

Perhaps not the most exciting day of tournament history, at least on a national level… but it’s the opening day of the tournament, and I watched hoops all day. What am I going to do, complain?

Game of the day: Creighton vs. West Virginia. In the closing seconds, there was a three ball attempted for the tie, a blocked shot, a textbook fastbreak, throwdown dunk with under 3 seconds on the clock, and then a missed three at the buzzer. It was really the only true nailbiter of the day. Both teams are well-coached, and both played very hard. Creighton even toes the line between playing hard and playing dirty… they’ll pull jerseys, hold, grab, clutch someone’s arm on the way down to the floor. But hey, if I was a coach, my team would do the same.

Upset of the day: UW-Milwaukee. I’ve gotta give it up for Milwaukiee. They’ve certainly had their share of visitors. The French missionaries and explores began visiting there in the late 16th century. Is Milwaukee an Indian name, you ask? Why yes, it is. In fact, it’s pronounced “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the good land.” Y’know, UAB probably deserves the nod here, because I felt like LSU was playing really well and was primed to make a strong run, but… I just wanted to get that Wayne’s World quote in there.

Player of the day: Eh, let’s go with that gay from Pacific who hit the 5 three-balls. I don’t remember his name, and I’m not going to look it up. Sorry. I gotta tell ya, I think Pitt was thoroughly outcoached in this game. They just don’t have much of a semblance of an offensive system, and they were 100% innefective in trying to get the ball to into the post. I don’t mean to discredit Pacific, but… Pitt has way too much talent to be losing this game. I’m sorry. That’s just how things are.

Teams with the biggest N-U-Ts: A few teams deserve some love here, although it’s always so difficult to figure out what combination of the following is true: The underdog really is good, the favorite isn’t playing well, or it’s just an odd matchup for the favorite. But, that said, a few teams still deserve some love. UTC hung with Wake for a half. Winthrop played their balls off. Eastern Kentucky gave it their best shot. And Faireigh Dicksinson was fairly dickin’, son. I realize that that makes no sense.