Bay Area Sports Blog

So yeah, new tournament darling Omar Samhan of St. Mary’s has an inappropriately named YouTube channel. Kids, avert your eyes … it’s “poopshower.” We heard Samhan was considering “pooptube” and “showercurtains” and just ended up combining them. No we didn’t hear that. Despite the un-amusing name some of the videos are amusing, if you wanted to be transported back to middle school Spanish class or the Santa Monica Pier.

It’s fitting that Samhan was learning Spanish (poorly), because St. Mary’s is now the world’s team. In Cairo, they love Samhan, who is of Egyptian descent.

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St. Mary’s 75-68 win over Villanova in the second round of the NCAA tournament was positively kisstastic.

Omar Samhan, who had 29 points in the Gaels’ opening round win over Richmond, poured in 32 against the Wildcats, and was far and away the best player on the floor at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Get a dozen for the road, big man. You earned ‘em.

Samhan blew kisses to the camera after the game (that’s what’s happening in the grainy mess on the left, you’ll just have to take our word for it) and St. Mary’s advanced to the Sweet 16, where they will play the winner of today’s game between Old Dominion and Baylor.

Mickey McConnell launched a 25-foot rainbow that kissed off the glass with 1:15 remaining to give St. Mary’s the lead for good in a game that the Gaels controlled from the opening tip. McConnell finished with 15 points and Matthew Dellavedova added 14. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves or anything, but St. Mary’s and Cal could meet in the South Region final.

San Jose and the St. Mary’s Gaels both starred in what is being hailed by basketball chroniclers as the “Greatest Opening Day” in the history of the tournament. All hail the greatest opening day ever! Bow in worship. To HP Pavilion.

San Jose, especially, was excitement — you might say madness? — central. It started with Murray State’s buzzer-beating upset of Vandy (Dan Belluomini’s Final Four choice, ouch). Then there was Isaiah Thomas’ amazing three-quarter-court shot after the whistle for Washington, followed by Quincy Pondexter’s winner in the final seconds for the Huskies. Montana gave New Mexico all it wanted in the nightcap and almost pulled off the second 14-3 upset of the day.

As for local teams, St. Mary’s handled Richmond and it took Bill Raftery only six-plus minutes of gametime to bring out the “Enter Samhan” joke. I had 10 minutes in my pool, damn.

Cal plays tonight and probably envies the St. Mary’s bracket. It’s looking like a tough road for the Golden Bears, tough enough that even Cal fans are giving 50-1 odds that the Bears make the Sweet 16. Still, there are some reasons they could win. Without further ado, we give Cal the “3 reasons” treatment:

CAL WILL MAKE THE SWEET 16 BECAUSE:

They shoot their free throws good (and are smart enough to tell you that last word should be “well”). If the Bears can get to the line, they came into the tournament ranked 11th nationally in free throw percentage at 75.7 percent.

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ST. MARY’S WILL MAKE THE SWEET 16 BECAUSE:

This guy will put Richmond and Villanova (sorry, Robert Morris) under his trance. Kill the prime minister of Malaysia...let Omar Samhan posterize you…kill the prime minister of Malaysia…leave Mickey McConnell wide open…Prime minister of Malaysia bad! Mugato good! (Classic photo is from elefunt_eye’s Flickr stream.)

St. Mary’s shooters will catch fire. Richmond ranks 12th in the nation in 3-point shooting defense, but McConnell, Matthew Dellavedova, Ben Allen, and Clint Steindl are capable of going off, and William & Mary demonstrated that the Spiders are vulnerable against teams that shoot threes in bunches.

It is their destiny. OK, maybe not, but the school hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 1959. They’re due! Right?

ST. MARY’S WILL NOT MAKE THE SWEET 16 BECAUSE:

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First, congrats to the St. Mary’s Gaels, who made Gonzaga look silly in the WCC finals tonight to avoid the bubble drama from last year. Between the USF win in January and tonight’s dismantling, the Bay Area teams have given tourney foes plenty of fodder for beating Gonzaga. An early-round Zags exit? It’s college basketball, who knows. Whoa there, early March Madness pool latent frustration!

Second, congrats to Cal’s Jerome Randle, Pac-10 Player of the Year. He’s been destined to win since the seventh grade, so it’s about time.

Finally, congrats to former Golden Bears linebackers giving back. First it was Scott Fujita, who left New Orleans (for Cleveland) with a going-away present of half his playoff bonus. Half of that money went to Haiti relief, the other half to help New Orleans.

Then Zack Follett one-upped Fujita by stepping into a cage with a for-reals lion. He’s taking the “playing for the Detroit Lions” thing to its logical conclusion. Actually this video is meant to encourage donations for the Cat Haven Wild Animal Park near Fresno (Follett is from the area). Fast-forward to the 2:55 mark for some tense moments with the big cat.

While this might fire up support for the park, it’s certainly firing up the Detroiters who love their crazy linebacker. Says “Joey Ballgame“: “Dude is putting in time with the pride during the off season, f—– awesome. Can we make Zack captain and let him come out of the tunnel riding a lion before each game?” Yes, please.

The Gonzaga Kennel Club brought its ‘A’ game. So, too, has Omar Samhan. The West Coast Conference’s leading scorer and Spokane’s No. 1 villain is making his final visit to the Kennel tonight in a nationally televised game. (The Zags lead St. Mary’s 39-36 at halftime; do yourself a favor and turn on ESPN2.)

More than 300 students camped out for the game and occupied their time studying making posters directed at Samhan.

There’s this fine acrostic, which mocks Samhan’s weight (whatever).  Then there’s this gem, which pokes fun at a taped interview segment broadcast during the teams’ last meeting in which the St. Mary’s star was asked to describe himself in one word and responded, “I know it’s two words, but I’m a beast.”

Samhan’s been a beast thus far, with 14 points and six rebounds at the break. He earned himself a halftime cheeseburger or three. Can St. Mary’s follow in the Dons’ footsteps? Stay tuned.

UPDATE: In one word? “Zags win.”

Remember when Landon Donovan was a fresh-faced kid winning titles with Earthquakes Part I? It’s been a long, winding path from those days to this: slap-fighting through the press with the world’s most famous soccer player.

It all stems from this “Beckham Experiment” excerpt in Sports Illustrated where Donovan benignly insults David Beckham for, among other things, not picking up the check and wrestling the LA Galaxy captaincy from Donovan. Today, Beckham slapped back: “…in 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism.”

Quakes keeper Joe Cannon, formerly installed in LA, basically previewed this entire situation on Soccer by Ives earlier this year when he said “I almost want to write a book about how bad it was” when Beckham arrived. If only Cannon had talked to Random House before stupid Grant Wahl!

Cannon, never shy with a mic in front of him, had some strong words about the Quakes’ 3-1 loss to Toronto FC on Saturday. “I like this group of guys, but I think we all need to ask more of ourselves.” Upcoming book: The Huckerby Experiment.

…Other linkage, not including Seth (not Steph) Curry and those U-19 hoops studs…

LeBron James got dunked on, Nike confiscated the tape, and the world is abuzz. But Cal’s Patrick Christopher, who was on the court at the time, sums it up perfectly: The dunk was big but is getting bigger because of the whole Communist-state-repression stuff. BearTalk

Pablo Sandoval still has a shot at the All-Star team. By the time you read this he could already be an All-Star. And not just in your heart. Merc

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While the trade can’t be completed until the free-agent signing period opens on July 8, most signs point to Amare Stoudemire, Ramya Auroprem’s nemesis, coming to the Bay for a package that includes Stephen Curry. So, don’t get too attached to the former NCAA tournament darling. There’s still a lot we don’t know, but at least the Warriors are trying to make something happen. The Dubs’ interest in Stoudemire is nothing new and Ric Bucher thinks the deal will get done after July 8. This much we do know: Patrick Millions was drafted by the Blazers. Congrats, mate.

…Other links, not including the greatest freak out ever, which may or may not be staged.

Bowker wow wow, yippie…OK. John Bowker is showing the sort of plate discipline at Triple-A that would make him a great candidate for a role in the upcoming blockbuster Moneyball. Bay City Ball

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The 1989 A’s event tonight had the hallmarks of any good reunion: Limited participation, beer, catty reminiscing about the good ‘ol days. According to Jeff Fletcher, Dave Stewart delivered most on the latter aspect, and the object of his ire was Jose Canseco.

Stewart said Canseco ‘concentrated more on himself than the team. I don’t think Canseco ever said ‘we.’ ‘

Stewart, who was one of the leaders of the A’s playoff teams of the late 1980s and early ’90s, said the team was nearly unanimous in disliking Canseco.

‘Truth be told, I’m glad Canseco is not here,’ Stewart said. ‘I think anybody, if they were being honest, would say that.’

So does this mean Jose wasn’t there for The Anaconda Story? Disappointing.

…Other linkage, not including the plague of locusts that was surely sent specifically for Joanna Krupa…

The NBA and NHL Drafts draw nigh. Warriors fans not intimidated by all the Timberwolves’ picks can dream of Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings. Sharks fans can get some bold predictions, not just for picks but crazy surrounding events, at Fear the Fin.

Vernon Davis’ humble little brother was involved in a bizarre case this week: He was arrested in Illinois, or maybe it was an imposter, or maybe you should just say WTF??!!??? like the kids do and move along. FanHouse

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Saint Mary’s star Patty Mills announced that he will not withdraw his nomination and will remain in the NBA draft.  In related news, the Gaels will be nationally irrelevant next season. “It was a tough decision for Pat,” SMC head coach Randy Bennett told reporters. “He’s thought about it. It’s not easy. He’s right on the cusp, so that makes it even trickier. But I’m excited for him. If someone in life is trying to chase a dream, it’s hard to do anything but support him. That’s where I am.” Mills, who will forgo the final two years of his eligibility, averaged 18.4 points per game as a sophomore. He is projected as a second-round pick. Contra Costa Times

Austin Burton says that while his size will scare some teams away, it shouldn’t, and Mills has first-round talent. Dime

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