COMEDY WRITING by Tannen

Can't tell you how many accounts of the so-called Alex Rodriguez "confession" lead with a version of coming clean. Sorry, but that's not accurate. Coming clean means you can't live with the lie and have to admit to what you've done to feel better about yourself and get on with your life. Being presented with non-deniable evidence and deciding the ONLY way to salvage what's left of your reputation and justify maintaining your job or circumstance isn't quite the same. That's the classic case of being sorry for getting caught. Arod's interview with Peter Gammons of ESPN is a freaking joke.
Was quite pleased to read Oregon men's hoops is in the running for stud Wisconsin prep star Jamil Wilson. A scary athlete, who is 6'7 and can score, or more importantly create his own scoring opportunities, is just what the doctor ordered. In no area have the Ducks been lacking then a guy who can torch the defense one on one when they need a bucket. Of course he's also considering national powers Texas & Michigan State. Here's hoping he sees the magnificence of Eugene, a new arena and a bevy of young talent to grow with.
Hard to believe, but Selection Sunday isn't that far off. The field for the 2009 NCAA's will be set on March 15th, and that's just 5 weeks from this coming Sunday. With Oregon obviously out of the picture, we'll throw more of an eye on the national picture. We get North Carolina at Duke tomorrow night for the inside track at one of those #1 seeds. It's not out of the question they both land a coveted spot like that. UConn has as tough an inside-out game as anyone. Pitt has experience and will have navigated through the difficult Big East like the Huskies. In the Pac-10 we have Arizona back in the picture after a shaky start to league play which saw them drop 5 of the first 7. They've reeled off 4 straight but face a stern part of the schedule with USC & UCLA in this weekend before 3 in a row on the road at Arizona State and the Washington Schools. The league has a pretty legit shot at placing 6 teams in the dance. Much more on this during SportsTalk.