Plan your sick day: We give this same tip every year right around the NCAA tournament to all of our friends: If you want to skip out on Thursday and Friday, you’ve got to play up the sick card early. Like Tuesday. Wednesday is too late — if you start with the fake sniffling and coughing the day before the tournament, somebody’s going to call you on it. That’s why Tuesday afternoon is the ideal day to feign illness.
Everyone will be talking about the tournament Monday. Resist all your urges to talk about how VCU is a great sleeper and guards rule in March so Blake Griffin and Oklahoma are going to be susceptible to an upset.
Now go practice that cough.
METRO/JM
he luckiest backup QB in the NFL — well, until Jeff Garcia signs with somebody — A.J. Feeley, could wind up a busy man in February 2010. Let’s say … Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb Kurt Warner are injured and the veteran Feeley must guide the Eagles to the Super Bowl. (Don’t laugh — Arizona’s started last season on the bench; yes, we’re aware Warner has had a slightly more impressive career than Feeley.)
If Feeley is somehow able to catapult the Eagles into the Super Bowl, it’ll probably mean a Pro Bowl trip. And just because he didn’t play a down in 2008 doesn’t mean he’s not capable of surprising some folks — remember when the Patriots were unbeaten in 2007 and Feeley nearly orchestrated an upset on the road? Philly lost, 31-28, but Feeley threw for 345 yards and three TDs (plus three interceptions).
And the other reason Feeley could be busy next February is his wedding, presumably later in the month, to U.S. national team soccer player Heather Mitts, one of our favorites. Somewhere, her ex-flame, former Phillies outfielder Pat Burrell weeps.
SOONERS THAN LATER: Courtney Paris is a tremendous college basketball player. She’s led Oklahoma to a 27-3 record, and the Sooners are ranked No. 3 in the country.
(Food for thought: OU had the Heisman winner, probably will have the men’s basketball player of the year in Blake Griffin, and Paris could win the award for the women.)
She’s also the daughter of former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Bubba Paris, which allowed her to drop quite the gauntlet this week: She said that she’d repay her entire basketball scholarship if the Sooners didn’t win a national title this year.
Did anyone notify her that the Connecticut women finished the regular season 30-0? And perhaps her short-term memory isn’t as strong as it should be, but the Sooners fell short of the Final Four in each of her last three seasons. Her confidence should definitely be applauded … by everyone who doesn’t have to help her cobble together the estimated $64,000 that her scholarship is worth.
Jason McIntyre covers athletes away from the field of play and runs the popular Web site The Big Lead.
Metro does not endorse the opinions of the author, or any opinions expressed on its pages.
