He's No. 6!

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The Bald Truth

Before Jay Cutler came along, the last Bear to wear No. 6 was Kevin Butler back in 1995. Just wait until 14 years after Cutler retires and the Bears give No. 6 to some guy named Dutler.

The Quote

"That doesn't really involve what we've gotta do in America to fix America, so it's a mute point." - Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, during an appearance on Bill Maher's HBO show.

The Old Quote Revisited

"I said I wasn’t gonna answer any more about Soriano. That’s a mute story." - Lou Piniella, getting perturbed last year when a reporter asked him about Alfonso Soriano.

The Conclusion

You know, come to think of it, I've never seen Joe The Plumber and Lou The Skipper in the same place at the same time.

The List

Five Cutler-trade-related e-mail observations from Gene Chamberlain (the former Bears beat reporter who worked with me when we were both with the Copley Newspaper group):

1. Hell froze over and pigs grew wings.

2. And for some reason, I think they'll still find a way to go 8-8 next season. They can blame it on Turner or injuries or Lovie. Or Riggleman.

3. The Bears traded a first-rounder for a QB who grew up in Indiana and was a Bears fan and got off to a great start in his career ... Rick Mirer.

4. At least this time when they traded for the QB who grew up in Indiana, they didn't make everybody go downtown for a press conference so we could watch Dave Wannstedt drink light beer with ice in it.

5. When the pressure was on last season, Cutler played the same way for Denver that Kyle Orton played for the Bears when the pressure was on. He sucked.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

When Mike Krzyzewski was talking about that very clever Risky Business Guitar Hero ad he filmed with Bobby Knight, Rick Pitino and Roy Williams, he made a reference to "Rick, Roy and Coach Knight."

Really? Is one of the great coaches ever so afraid of insulting Bobby that he feels he must kiss Bobby's ring at every opportunity? Pretty freakin' sad.

Coach K puts it on the line for Duke

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Saturday's final four:

1. In the final seconds, with Duke at the line trying to extend a 3-point lead, Coach K did what far too few coaches do: Instead of having nobody line up in any of the free-throw rebounding positions, thereby surrending a missed shot to the opponent, he had a player take one of the spots. Sure enough, when the foul shot was missed, David McClure kept the ball alive for the Dookies. Teammate Gerald Henderson emerged from a scramble with the ball, got fouled and iced the game with two free throws. Given the funny bounces the basketball can take, why do coaches so often just concede the rebound to the opponent? I know the answer: They are afraid of a player being called for a loose-ball foul. But think about it: A coach trusts players to do all manner of things during the course of a game but won't trust them to steer clear of a foul in a key situation? Well, Coach K trusted McClure. Rather than trying not to lose, he was trying to win. Just another reason Coach K is one of the best ever.

2. And speaking of free throws ... I felt really good about my upset pick of Western Kentucky over Gonzaga. And the Hilltoppers probably would have pulled it off if they hadn't gone 5-for-14 from the line. Texas, meanwhile, was 16-for-25 in losing the close one to Duke. This time of year, if you don't hit your free throws, you're dead.

3. Illinois certainly missed Chester Frazier and Marquette misses Dominic James ... but please. Ty Lawson, an NBA stud in the making, showed Saturday just what North Carolina had been missing when the superstar point guard was out with his toe injury. Yeah, but Lawson has so much more talent around him, right? Right - and yet he still took over and was the difference in the second half when the Tar Heels needed him against LSU. What a player.

4. As is the case going into Sunday's meeting, Marquette and Missouri were the 3 and 6 seeds in the 2003 tourney (although back then, unlike now, Marquette was the 3 and Mizzou was the 6). That game was an overtime classic, with Travis Diener and Steve Novak - not Dwyane Wade - carrying the day for a talented Marquette team that used the victory as a springboard to the Final Four. Sounds like a plan! Hey, a Golden Warrior Eagles fan can dream, right?

Bo should know the NIT

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The Bald Truth

If Wisconsin gets invited to the NCAA tournament, it will because of reputation alone.

The Badgers are 19-12 and have one victory all season over a ranked team - at Michigan in their Big Ten opener. That also serves as their most "quality" road victory. 

They even lost at Iowa - and that's not easy.

Though the selection committee might end up ruling differently, logic suggests the Badgers had to beat Ohio State in the conference tourney Friday to sew up an NCAA bid ... and they couldn't do it.

Bo Ryan is a great coach, but this isn't one of his better teams. It certainly isn't a team worthy of playing in the NCAAs. 

The Balder Truth

Syracuse players are many things, including tough, resilient and well-conditioned. Given their ability to follow a six-overtime victory over UConn with a run-of-the-mill single-OT triumph over West Virginia, "impressive" works well, too. 

OK, now can all commentators please stop with all the talk of "courage"?

The Orangemen didn't rush into a burning building to save lives, didn't go off to war, didn't even take a difficult public stand on a controversial issue.

They are basketball players who played lots of basketball.

Yes, they played it very well, but I sure hope that's not how we're defining "courage" these days. 

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Jon Scheyer clanked the front end of a 1-and-1. Boston College then grabbed the rebound and the Eagles, who trailed Duke by one point in the ACC quarterfinals, were steaming up court with a chance to win the game.

That's when coach Al Skinner called a time out.

And he wasn't finished showing how smart he was. Oh no, not even close.

BC got the ball inbounds and advanced it into the frontcourt ... when Skinner called time again. Now there were only 5.5 seconds left.

When play resumed, Duke overplayed Skinner's first option - Tyrese Rice - and BC ended up taking a wild, challenged shot that didn't come close to going in.

Why didn't Skinner simply trust his players, especially Rice, after that missed free throw? Isn't that why the Eagles had spent the last six months practicing, for those exact kind of situations?

With the Dookies scrambling to get back into defensive position, BC had every advantage.

Until Skinner called time. Twice.

Coach S apparently wanted to prove he was smarter than Coach K.

Gee. How did that work out?