SportsGrinder

Obviously, it's March. The mad part. There is only one subject on the mind of real, red-blooded, American sports fan. Can anyone beat Manchester United? Kidding, of course. It's college hoops time, which always makes life worth living.

The conference tournaments are in full bloom, and the Big 12 has already been a blast. Last night Mike Singletary at Texas Tech went off for 29 points in nine minutes, 43 points total to stun the Aggies. Today, upstart Baylor knocked off top-seed Kansas. Meanhwile, Michigan crushed Iowa. Georgia Tech beat Clemson. Kentucky took down Mississippi and... We could go on.

Soon, Selection Sunday cometh, followed by three glorious days of mulling, studying and filling out brackets. (Like anyone else, we'll have our picks up.) Deadspin, via USA Today, via a bunch of press releases from phone companies, points out that a sufficiently wired gadget freak need not miss a bucket of the whole show. Almost. And with Direct TV, you can (as the blaring ad on ESPN reminds us every three minutes) be a "real fan" by watching four games at the same time. Never mind that it's neurologically impossible to process all the action of four simultaneous college basketball games.

There are, however, sports that aren't college basketball, though you probably won't care for the next few weeks. The New York Times has a story about Travis Henry that shows just how easy it is to blow several million dollars if you happen to have nine kids by nine different women. The US split with Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, with the South Americans all jacked about the one win.

There is also racing. Sadly, NASCAR is taking the week off, but a lot of old fashioned horsepower will be on display. The 2009 Kentucky Derby is the first weekend in may and, really, the prep races leading up the Run for the Roses is always the coolest part of the season. Now, in fact, is the time to sign up for the Road To The Roses Kentucky Derby Fantasy Challenge; the official fantasy game of the Kentucky Derby.

Yes, it exists. Are you really surprised? Players create stable of horses, then select jockeys and trainers, winning points based on results in the the prep races.

On the track, there's a gem this weekend. The Louisiana Derby, at the picturesque Fair Grounds in New Orleans, will feature some of the top three-year-old talent in the country. Except for Big Drama, a horse which has looked like a Derby lock since last year, but ke kicked himself in a stall, suffered a bone bruise and is done as Triple Crown contender. Tough sport, horseracing. Thse thoroughbreds have a lot of stuff that can go wrong.

Everyone enjoys the Sports Illustrated Cheerleader of the Week. What's not to love? Although sometimes you get the feeling that the people over at SI is pick the cheerleaders on the basis of misguided criteria -- like how well they can cheer. Case in point; current COTW, Rachelle from the University of North Carolina. She's sort of, that is.. Um, well.. How to put this nicely? She is kind of… Um. Well, there is no way to put it nicely. She is unhot. Don't click unless you need to cure a case of the hiccups. Really, is this the best the entire state of North Carolina can produce?