113th Edition - 3/12/07

113 - A French hip-hop group -- http://www.113online.com/ AND an inside joke in animation movies - A113 appears in "A Bug's Life," "Cars," and "The Simpsons." It is a reference is a CalArts classroom where many animators got their education.

• NCAA - dance

Sung by Mr. David Barrett ...

The ball is tipped and there you are
you're running for your life
you're a shooting star
And all the years no one knows
just how hard you worked
but now it shows...
ONE SHINING MOMENT,
IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
ONE SHINING MOMENT,
THERE FROZEN IN TIME

OK, now I'm in the mood... with the Iowa Hawkeyes not coming close to sniffing the punch at the dance, I have no hopes and dreams at all for the NCAA tournament, except of course for close games and upsets.

The four #1 seeds are no surprise (Florida, North Carolina, Ohio State and Kansas), but Florida claimed the overall #1 even though Ohio State is #1 in both polls. The Big Ten snuck six schools into the tournament, and everyone has decided Drexel got screwed.

• The Big Ten: The Hawks stand alone

Step forward if you finished with a winning record overall AND are going to the post season ... not so fast Iowa. Iowa finished 9-7 in the Big Ten and 17-14 overall and they are done. No NCAA tourney and no NIT. Michigan at 8-8 and 21-12 got the only NIT bid. The lesson as always, the Hawkeyes need to find some community colleges to beat up on before the Big Ten season starts.

• Tennis: Federer can fall

Roger Federer's win streak of 41 straight matches came to an end against Guillermo Canas in the Pacific Life Open. More importantly listen to what he said ...

"It was just a normal loss, like I've had about 100 times on tour," Federer said. "That's normal to tennis. I have no problems. He played very well. I missed my chances. I think he played very well and I didn't think I was playing poorly at all. So it's OK."

I'm starting to like this guy.

• Stuff

*Box Office Recap
1. "300" - $70 million. Biggest March opening ever. It cost $65 million to make the film, but that doesn't take into account all the marketing.
2. "Wild Hogs" - $28 million. I am truly shocked. I figured the bad reviews would affect the box office a little bit, but mainly I assume word-of-mouth from people who saw it would kill this movie. Instead, "Zodiac" fell to $6.7 million.

*Comedian Richard Jeni was shot in the head and killed. Probably by himself, but that's not official yet. I will remember this guy for the rest of my life because of Lobster Claws. In college, before a movie would start in the theater, Richard Jeni would have this little comedy bit sponsored by Coca-cola. I probably saw the thing 40 times. It was NEVER funny, but became a running joke with my friends ... I just spent the past 10 minutes trying to find the bit. Can't.