Using Sports Expert Advice to Fill Out Brackets is 'Bracket Plagiarism'

As we embark this week on one of the year’s most popular and anticipated sporting events, the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament or March Madness I have stumbled upon an idea or opinion that I apparently have been on the minority side of and never knew it.

Every year during the days that precede the beginning of March Madness I, like many millions of other Americans, find a bracket of the matchups and fill it out to compete with a group of others doing the same. I fill the bracket out without the help of television or Internet experts telling me who to pick and this has served me quite well in the past leading me to win multiple brackets. I’m not a risky bracket picker. I pick very few upsets, maybe fewer than most. Sometimes this bites me, but I’d rather be bitten by a 15-seed upsetting a 2-seed or a 14-seed upsetting a 3-seed than going for broke or against the odds and not having it play out. This is my strategy for trying to win. But, no matter what my picks are mine 100 percent of the time without any influence from other individuals. The only influences I’ll use are obvious things like seeding, records and other basketball statistics.

I believe this is the only right way to pick a bracket. This is a thought that until this week I believed that I shared with the majority of people who fill out brackets.

Apparently it’s not.

I posed the question of whether or not it was wrong to use expert advice to fill out a bracket on my sports podcast’s Facebook page and the majority response was that it’s not wrong to do so. I was shocked.

To me it would seem obvious that using experts on ESPN or YahooSports.com or any other sports television network or website would be essentially cheating.

Why do I consider this cheating?

It’s cheating because it’s passing off the knowledge or opinion of somebody else as your own. When you fill out a bracket in competition against other people it should be completely yours. Using advice from outside sources effectively makes any potential win or gain from your bracket not completely yours and thus isn’t as much of an accomplishment as winning your bracket tournament on your own accord would be.    

Some people may not give a damn about that, especially if they are playing for money (something I personally do not do). They may consider a win a win and using all means necessary to receive monetary gain fair game. I have no way of stopping people from doing this, barring getting my entire bracket group of people together the minute after the brackets are unveiled to make their picks immediately.

But, I definitely view using others’ advice to fill out your bracket to be a cheap and unfair way to compete in a bracket tournament. I liken it to Googling answers during a trivia competition. You are passing off knowledge as your own that isn’t. Some people may not agree with this comparison, but I don’t understand how they could deny it.

Using experts to help fill out your bracket is essentially plagiarism. You are using the ideas and thoughts of others for your own use. It very well may be considered commonplace when it comes to filling out your March Madness bracket to use outside help, but it’s wrong.

So, if you’re like I and you fill out your bracket on your own good for you. It’s the only right way to do so and if you win you’ll truly have all of the bragging rights and pride that comes with the accomplishment of beating everybody else. But, if you use outside help to fill out your bracket and win you don’t really have the right to gloat, because it’s just as much Jay Bilas’ and Dick Vitale’s and Doug Gottlieb’s and any other experts’ bracket just as much as it is your own. And, if you happen to win money doing that, well, those experts really deserve a cut.  

In Defense of Nicolas Batum's Crotch Shot

It might seem hard or ridiculous to come to the defense of an athlete for intentionally hitting another athlete below the belt, but I’m about to do just that.

The quarterfinal Olympics basketball game between Spain and France ended in controversy on Wednesday afternoon when France players became angered by the Spaniards flopping to draw fouls and in the case of France forward Ronny Turiaf’s foul on flopping Spain forward Rudy Fernandez a hard foul.

Incensed by the flopping by the Spanish team France forward Nicolas Batum decided that he was going to give Spain guard Juan Carlos Navarro a parting shot that he wouldn’t forget toward the end of France’s 66-59 loss to Spain that would end their Olympic run. Near the end of the game Batum ran at Navarro and made a violent slapping motion toward his mid-section that caught Navarro in the groin. This action set off a slight incident between the two squads, but Batum was not ejected from the game.

Not only was the French team angered by Spain’s flopping, but they also felt that Spain had intentionally blown a 12-point fourth quarter lead in a game against Brazil so they could face France in the quarterfinals instead of a tougher matchup against the United States.

Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA, would’ve most certainly received a fine and quite likely a game or two suspension from NBA commissioner David Stern had this incident occurred in an NBA game. However, I’ve got to say that I don’t have the slightest problem with Batum’s actions, even though Batum would later apologize for it.

Here’s why …

After the loss to Spain, Batum told reporters “I wanted to give him a good reason to flop.” Batum’s response is not only humorous, but also a fairly decent way to combat the shameful act of flopping. In my opinion, it’s not a whole lot different than a pitcher beaning a batter (which I approve of, as well) for admiring his home run a little too much in baseball. In sports athletes really have to police themselves and that’s what Batum was doing.

Flopping is a major problem in basketball. Fans know it. I’m sure if you polled fans it would be near the top of a list of biggest problems with NBA basketball. Players and coaches know it. NBA commissioner David Stern even knows it and has mentioned trying to figure out ways to put an end to flopping.

The league putting an end to flopping is something that would be hard to do. I have mentioned before that I would approve of officials giving technical fouls to players that they see as flopping, but like many other things in officiating it’s merely a judgment call and if officials are calling fouls already on these plays than they likely don’t view them as flops in the first place.

Players policing themselves like Batum did on Wednesday could be one way to end flopping. Hit a dude in the crotch enough times and I think he’ll probably get the message. After all, there aren’t many more things in this world that dudes are afraid of than getting hit right in the marbles.

Many people see what Batum did as a heinous act that deserves to be punished. I see it as getting a message across about another heinous act that should be punished.

20 Unwritten Sports Rules That Should Not Be Broken (4 That I Don't Mind Seeing Broken)

Unwritten rules basically have to do with playing the game with good sportsmanship.

1. Don’t bunt to break up a no-hitter or a perfect game. (Baseball)

About 10 years ago San Diego Padres catcher Ben Davis successfully bunted for a single to break up a no-hitter by Curt Schilling. A while back Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria tried the same thing during Dallas Braden’s perfect game and thankfully was unsuccessful.

2. Don’t run up the score if you’re leading by a lot. (All sports)

The most notorious team that I’ve ever seen do this was the New England Patriots. Win a game with humility.


3. Don’t onside kick while leading. (Football)

The only time I ever remember seeing this was when I attended my first UCA Bears football game and Coach Clint Conque had the Bears onside kick at the end of a game with a huge lead. One of the Bears starting players actually got injured on the play. I always thought it kind of served Conque right for doing such an unsportsmanlike thing.

4. Don’t shoot at your own basket to get a record.

Ricky Davis did this many years ago against the Utah Jazz to record a rebound for a triple-double. (Basketball)

5. Don’t intentionally foul at the end of the game to keep another team from shooting a three to tie or win. (Basketball)

Some coaches do it and other coaches refuse to do it. I admire those coaches that refuse to do it. I’ve said multiple times I’d rather get beat than foul in that situation.


6. Don’t celebrate when losing. (All sports)

Nothing looks dumber than when a linebacker celebrates a sack down by 14 or a NBA player celebrates a dunk down by 20 or when a pitcher celebrates a strikeout down five. If I were a coach I’d fine and sit any player celebrating while losing.

7. Don’t celebrate an empty net goal (Hockey)

8. Don’t give an athlete a record they don’t deserve. (All sports)

The only time I’ve ever seen this was when Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre laid down to give Giants defensive end Michael Strahan the NFL’s single-season sack record. Make the guy earn the record.

9. Don’t shoot the ball as time expires when leading (Basketball)

Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic notoriously did this two years ago in the NBA playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs.

10. Don’t shoot 3-pointers when you’re up 10+ with less than a minute to play (Basketball)

Kobe Bryant (twice; made one) and Derek Fisher both shot 3-pointers against the Celtics during game one of the 2010 NBA Finals with an insurmountable lead with under a minute to play.

11. Don’t foul on defense when losing by more than 10+ with less than a minute remaining. (Basketball)

Too many NBA and college basketball teams do this and it’s always for naught. All it does is prolong your loss.

12. Don’t run a play when you can run the clock out. (Football)

13. Don’t show up a pitcher by admiring a home run. (Baseball)

I swear if you do you’ll get a fastball in the back.

14. Don’t show up a batter by celebrating a strikeout. (Baseball)

Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain, Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano and a few others are notoriously bad about this.

15. Don’t steal a base when you’re up by 5+ runs late in a game (Baseball)

Rickey Henderson did this about 10 years ago against the Milwaukee Brewers and Brewers manager Davey Lopes wanted his head for it.

16. Don’t yell at infielders on the basepaths while their trying to make a play. (Baseball)

Alex Rodriguez juvenilely did this a season or two ago while running out a pop out against the Toronto Blue Jays.

17. If you’re a lapped car, don’t race a lead lap car hard late in a race (Auto Racing)

18. Don’t try to plant seeds with referees, umpires or officials to try to get favorable calls. (All sports)

Lakers coach Phil Jackson did this on three different occasions in the 2010 NBA playoffs alone.

19. Don’t lean into a pitch intentionally to get a hit by pitch. (Baseball)

20. Don’t swing at the first pitch following back to back home runs (baseball)



Four Unwritten Rules I Don't Mind Seeing Broken:


1. Icing the kicker (Football)

To me kicking a game-winning field goal is one of the most mental things in all of sports. Might as well try to get in the kicker's head.

2. Mocking a pitcher/batter who previously mocked (Baseball)

Aubrey Huff mocked Joba Chamberlain two years ago when he hit a home run off of him, because Chamberlain previously did it to him; just a little bit of his own medicine.

3. Never steal another team’s signs (Baseball)

If you can do it, do it.

4. “attacking” while an opponent has a mechanical problem (Cycling)

This came into play during this year's Tour de France when Alberto Contador went on the offensive when his nearest competitor had a mechanical issue with his bike.

He's No M.J.

Last night the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics to win the 2010 NBA Finals and Kobe Bryant won his fifth career ring, but the one thing that kept running through my mind during game seven of the NBA Finals was: “Kobe is no M.J.”

There has been debate for a while now, and it’s been magnified during the playoffs this year, that Kobe Bryant could possibly be as good as Michael Jordan. I’ve heard one sports commentator even ask the question what would it take for Bryant to be thought of as the greatest player of all time, like Jordan. Is six championships enough? Seven? Eight? Even more?

After watching last night’s basketball game I’ve come to the decision that Kobe Bryant never will be as great as Michael Jordan. Not even if he wins as many championships (or more) and scores as many points.

Why?

Because last night, in the biggest game he could ever possibly play in, he didn’t play like the greatest of all time.

He didn’t even play like top five or top 10 all time (which he should have). Bryant did score 23 points last night, which while not up to his usual self isn’t a low number. However, he shot six for 24 from the field for a lowly 25% field goal percentage.

In six NBA Finals appearances, Jordan never shot 25% or worse. This was the second time in Bryant’s five championships (not counting the Finals he lost) that he’s shot 25% or worse.
Bryant was forcing up shots last night that Jordan never would have even dreamed of taking. He’d throw up shots while being double or even triple teamed that would have taken some heavy praying to reach the bottom of the basket.

I’ll never doubt that Bryant is a great basketball player. As previously mentioned he’s easily in the top 10 and could reach the top five before his career comes to an end.

However, comparing him to Michael Jordan would mean that Bryant is the greatest of all time. After watching his performance in last night’s game it’s impossible to call him that.