"You Got That Right"

Question for the night: Is Brent Musburger still obsessed with Tom Izzo’s every move and is he making Erin stalk him?
Answer: Yes. He had Erin stationed at the scorer’s table right behind Izzo and made sure she was in every one of his huddles. Brent was also pretty obsessed with Wisconsin’s Michael Flowers, who shut down Drew Neitzel.
Bonus question: Can Tom Izzo and the Spartans derail the Ryan Express?
Answer: No. The odds of Wisconsin having a piece of the conference championship are pretty good now.

The game was in Madison, Wisconsin, thus Brent was totally wasted, and perhaps Erin was too (she and Brent were suggesting this during the game without actually saying it was true).

Whenever Brent and Steve do a Wisconsin game you know you’re going to hear a lot about Brian Butch, the Polar Bear because I think Brent thinks he is best friends with the Polar Bear. Brent wants to be Brian Butch’s agent and is also in love with him. The polar bear was “shredding the nets” from the 3 point line. As a certain drunken announcer would say, the polar bear was loose. “He’s like a guard in a polar bear’s body.” – Steve.

Brent and Steve got a little bored with 1 minute left in the 1st half and they talked about the weather in Madison. We found out that Brent and Steve drove from Milwaukee to Madison on Wednesday night. I can’t believe ESPN lets Brent drive!!! I can’t believe a rental car company rents a car to him!!!

Even more evidence that Brent was wasted: Going into a commercial Brent said Cincinnati was winning the game.

Classic LavinBurger last night. This was their best performance of the season so far. Here is an excerpt and the YouTube video:

“You always have my back. If I have a Myspace I’m putting you as my best friend.” – Steve
“I can’t wait to see Erin Andrews on Youtube tonight…I mean I always look to see. I mean she’s the star attraction over there. She’ll have 2,000 hits by midnight.” –Brent
“Absolutely. She carries us.” – Steve
“You got that right.” –Brent
Cut to Erin looking completely embarrassed.
Brent and Erin then talk about how Brent looks better than Erin tonight.
“You two broke curfew last night, but why not, Madison is such a great town.” –Brent
Brent then starts talking about the bars in Madison, in particular, the Nitty Gritty. Steve then talks about how Brent sets up his office at one of the bars whenever he comes to town.



I give this conversation extra points for the continuity with last year’s Michigan State vs Michigan game where Brent and Steve made another Erin Andrews/Youtube/bar comment. I wonder if Brent and Steve are getting paid to mention YouTube so many times?

Whenever ESPN inadvertently shows Erin Andrews (like when they are showing one of the coaches and Erin happens to be sitting behind him), Erin always looks bored to death and like she doesn’t care about basketball at all. Maybe last night it was just because she was hungover from partying all night at Brent’s “office.”

By the end of the game, Brent and Steve were completely out of their minds. They had totally forgotten that they were at a basketball game and on national television and they just said whatever they wanted. They talked about how much they hated the Roger Clemens investigation and don’t want to hear about it anymore, and how Rocky supposedly used steroids. Brent was devastated about these accusations.

Breaking news 2 years from now: Brent Musburger busted for sexual harassment of Erin Andrews.

This game featured 2 evenly matched teams that play basketball the way it was meant to be played. Just like Brent and Steve said, it’s old fashioned basketball, and no one does old fashioned better than the Badgers. Only 1 turnover for the Badgers last night, a school record. You win if you take care of the ball. The Badgers are a team that makes good decisions and rarely makes mistakes.

Final score: #9 Wisconsin: 57, #15 Michigan State: 42
It was a great game, but the game was overshadowed by the crazy, drunken conversations Brent and Steve had. Fine by me.

“A good one here tonight. The Badgers prevail, my friend.” –Brent Musburger

"Erin Andrews, What About the Crowd Tonight?"

Indiana’s last game was against Northwestern…where they almost lost to the team that hasn’t won a Big Ten game all year, and Ohio State hasn’t beaten any of the 4 teams ahead of them in the Big Ten standings. But of course, this whole game was about the Kelvin Sampson scandal and how it’s the interim coaches first game in Bloomington. Is Erin Andrews bored with the Kelvin Sampson thing yet? Pretty sure Brent sounds bored with it. Brent didn’t sound too excited about the game either. He must not have had enough to drink this afternoon. Steve was slacking on making up stupid catchphrases. Brent never said “one and done.” Steve did say that Indiana’s interim coach was being dissected like a frog in biology class. This game ended up being a quality announced game, but I am completely sick of hearing about Dan Dakich now.

Brent was observing Thad Matta very closely…watching him run up and down the court this afternoon…being very concerned with his foot. During the game, Brent even asked Erin how well Matta was moving around. Erin said Matta could beat Steve in a sprint. It seems that every game Brent is obsessed with watching one of the coaches.

Ohio State only plays zone defense. Not just for this game, but for the entire year. Steve was giving a lot of reasons why Thad Matta decided not to play man to man. How can you be a D1 college basketball player and not be good enough to play man to man defense????? How can you be a D1 college basketball coach and not have enough practice time and be a good enough coach to teach your team how to play man to man defense???? Dear Ohio State Athletic Director, this is a bad sign. By the way, Indiana didn’t have too much trouble with Ohio State’s zone tonight.

“This is where Dakich needs to show a little Bobby Knight” - Brent

Don’t forget to watch Michigan State at Wisconsin on Thursday night, 9pm, ESPN2. Lavinburger will be in Madison, Brent’s favorite city to get drunk in. I will be Tivoing the game so I won’t miss any of the stupid comments.

Final score: #12 Indiana 72, Ohio State 69
Indiana keeps their hopes alive of being the conference champ

It's a Good Week This Week

Not only are Brent, Steve, and Erin announcing Super Tuesday tonight, as usual, but they are also announcing the Michigan St vs Wisconsin game on Thursday! Erin will be making another appearance (cheating on Brent and Steve) this week with Dan Schulman and Dick Vitale for the Kansas St vs Kansas game Saturday at 9 on ESPN.

Televised Big Ten Basketball This Week

Question of the week: can Indiana keep their hopes alive for #1 in the Big Ten?

2/24 Sunday: 4 pm CBS
#9 Wisconsin vs Ohio State
If Wisconsin wins, they will be alone in 1st place in the Big Ten. Ohio State’s last game was last Sunday when they lost to Michigan.
avg ppg: Wisconsin 68.8, Ohio State 67.9
opp ppg: Wisconsin 55.4, Ohio State 60.1

2/26 Super Tuesday: 7pm ESPN
Ohio State vs #12 Indiana
The day after Kelvin Sampson was fired the Hoosiers struggled at Northwestern. I guess all those announcers were wrong when they said the players just play and nothing else matters. Too bad Sampson screwed over his team, Indiana actually had a chance at winning the Big Ten, being only 1 game behind Wisconsin and Purdue, and they have two of the best players in the conference. Average Ohio State probably has a chance at winning this game now.
avg ppg: Ohio State 67.9, Indiana 76.6
opp ppg: Ohio State 60.1, Indiana 63.6

2/28 Thursday: 9pm ESPN
#15 Michigan State vs #9 Wisconsin
Best televised game of the week in the Big Ten. Both are balanced teams who take care of the ball very well, play good defense, and score a lot.
avg ppg: Michigan State 72.8, Wisconsin 68.8
opp ppg: Michigan State 62.1, Wisconsin 55.4

3/1 Saturday: 4pm ESPN
Ohio State vs Minnesota
Worst televised game of the week in the Big Ten
avg ppg: Ohio State 67.9, Minnesota 71.5
opp ppg: Ohio State 60.1, Minnesota 63.7

Big Ten Standings
Indiana 12-2
Wisconsin 12-2
Purdue 12-2
Michigan State 10-4
Ohio State 8-5
Minnesota 6-7
Iowa 5-10
Michigan 5-10
Penn State 4-9
Illinois 3-12
Northwestern 0-14

Erin Andrews, Get a Real Job

Do you think Erin Andrews gets sick reporting about stories that have already been beaten to death? Erin usually reports on the most obvious things, and sometimes really obscure things, but never important and interesting things. During the Indiana vs Purdue game on 2/19 she reported on the last time some Purdue player got a haircut, and went on to talk about Steve Lavin’s hair.

During the beginning of this conversation, Brent was actually the voice of reason, but then Steve and Brent totally forgot about the basketball game and decided to talk about hair. It seems that Erin’s main job when reporting with Brent and Steve is to incite stupid conversations that make them digress from the game (but I’m not complaining, the whole basis of this blog is Brent, Steve, and Erin talking about stupid things on national television). It is not the case that all sideline reporters report about dumb things; I have heard rather insightful reporting done from the sideline by Pat Forde. Pat Forde is probably more qualified than Erin Andrews to report on basketball, but it doesn’t really take a genius to report on this stuff. Here at BrentWatch, we support Erin Andrews in her quest to get a real announcing job, and someday be one of the real announcers (she’s been around long enough (at least 1 day) to know how to be an announcer and I’m sure Brent has given her private lessons). She could take over for Brent when his insanity totally takes over his brain and he can no longer function as a human being, although no one is sure if he has already reached that point or if he is going to get even crazier.

#10 Wisconsin @ Illinois

Too bad it's not on TV because Brent is obsessed with Wisconsin and loves talking about Brian Butch the Polar Bear.

Chief Illiniwek's last dance:


Remember: Polar bears eat indians.

"Loving it in Bloomington"

Exciting game; exciting conversations by Brent and Steve. Very interesting conversation about chocolate during the first half, and the conversation they had about hair, haircuts, and barbers was very enlightening. Brent knows a really good barber in Bloomington, and I think Steve was insinuating that Midwesterners use antifreeze as hair gel. All in all, quality announcing job by the Lavinburger team, but not as much Brent craziness as we are used to…in the first half. Brent and Steve really stepped it up in the 2nd half to make up for it, and Steve was coming up with more strange expressions than usual. For example, the Oregon Ducks are trying to quack their way into the tournament, according to Steve.

Only 1 bad thing to say about the game: It was annoying when they cut to scenes of the Purdue fans who decided to watch the game in their arena (the game was in Bloomington, not West Lafayette). Did the Purdue fans not know that it was an away game? Why do we (the people who want to watch the game that’s being played in Bloomington) care at all what the fans in West Lafayette are doing? (Oh look, Purdue scored and they are cheering! What a surprise.) It’s a major distraction to cut between arenas during the game. Brent wants to know what they are charging for a hot dog and soda over there.

“Old fashioned apple jack style” – Steve

Brent uses his catchphrase “one and done” to describe everything. This week it describes Eric Gordon after he made a huge shot saying that he is such a good player he will only be in college for 1 year. The past couple weeks he used “one and done” to describe a situation when a team goes down the court, shoots, misses, and doesn’t get the offensive rebound.

Break out your thesaurus, synonyms for the Purdue Boilermakers as told by Brent Musburger: Baby Boilers, The Little Engine That Could.

Final score: #14 Indiana 77, #15 Purdue 68
Indiana ends Purdue’s 11 game win streak

Televised Big Ten Basketball This Week

Not a very exciting week aside from Super Tuesday. The announcers are pretty much right when they say the Big Ten is horrible. Although it is true that the bottom teams in any conference are bad, the bottom of the Big Ten starts with Ohio State which is 5th in the standings.

2/17 Sunday: 1 pm CBS
Ohio State vs Michigan
Watch out, Michigan is on a 2 game win streak (haha, they’re 3-9 now!), but Michigan is still the worst team in the Big Ten if you don’t count Northwestern, who has yet to win a Big Ten game this season. I think Northwestern should be demoted to the Horizon League. Michigan has the worst field goal percentage, and the only team easier to score on (in terms of field goal percentage) is Northwestern. Ohio State has quality players, yet is not a quality team.
avg ppg: Ohio State 67.8, Michigan 64.5
opp ppg: Ohio State 59.3, Michigan 70.0

2/19 Super Tuesday: 7pm ESPN
#15 Purdue vs #14 Indiana
It’s hard to enjoy an Indiana game with the whole Kelvin Sampson thing going on, but this game should be amazing since Purdue recently beat Michigan State and Indiana just destroyed them too; therefore, I think right now, Purdue and Indiana are 2 of the 3 best teams in the Big Ten, and Purdue is on a 10 game winning streak. Should be a good matchup between diaper dandies Eric Gordon and Robbie Hummel. Oh, and don’t forget about Brent, Steve, and Erin.
avg ppg: Purdue 68.4, Indiana 76.0
opp ppg: Purdue 60.7, Indiana 62.7

2/21 Thursday: 9pm ESPN
Michigan vs Minnesota
I’m predicting a boring game.
avg ppg: Michigan 64.5, Minnesota 72.3
opp ppg: Michigan 70.0, Minnesota 63.8

2/23 Saturday: 2pm ESPN
Iowa vs #17 Michigan State
Michigan State leads the conference in points per game while Iowa is last. Iowa still has the worst turnover margin in the Big Ten. I hope this game will look like the US Olympic team is playing Iraq’s Olympic team because sometimes it is fun to watch one team totally embarrass another.
avg ppg: Iowa 56.3, Michigan State 73.0
opp ppg: Iowa 57.7, Michigan State 62.3

Big Ten Standings
Purdue 11-1
Wisconsin 10-2
Indiana 9-2
Michigan State 8-3
Ohio State 8-4
Minnesota 5-6
Iowa 4-9
Penn State 3-8
Illinois 3-9
Michigan 3-9
Northwestern 0-11

Best Basketball State

The ESPN halftime show during last night's Michigan State/Purdue game mentioned that Indiana is the best basketball state in America. True story. Purdue, Butler, Indiana, and Notre Dame...all ranked. Let's take a look at the top 25 and see how other states compare.

ESPN/USA Today Poll

Indiana (4)
Tennessee (3)
California (3)
North Carolina (2)
Kansas (2)
Wisconsin (2)
Texas (2)
DC (1)
Michigan (1)
Ohio (1)
Iowa (1)
Connecticut (1)
Washington (1)
Pennsylvania (1)

And sad news for Thursday’s Big Ten matchup, no Brent or Steve. But they will be cheating on the Big Ten on Saturday by announcing #7 Stanford at Arizona (ABC, 3:30pm), while Erin will be sideline reporting the #9 Michigan State at #12 Indiana (ESPN, 9pm) game with Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale.

A Big Ten Showdown

“It’s rockin in here” – Brent
Brent was right, Super Tuesday did not disappoint. Brent’s introduction of Erin Andrews before the game even started gave it away that he was not sober tonight. Great announcing performance by Brent, he was back to his old drunken self. Brent was obsessed with Purdue and pretty much said Robbie Hummel should be the first pick in the NBA draft, but was creepily obsessed with every movement Tom Izzo made. He even sent Erin out to stalk Tom Izzo for him and report back on everything he said during timeouts.

“One and done” – Brent’s new catchphrase

“Coast to coast, easy deuce” - Steve

Brent also thinks it is his duty to advertise Valentine’s Day.

Steve knows what it would look like if 2 water buffaloes fought in the paint.

Watching this game got me thinking about the worst college basketball courts (just the court, not the arena) because Purdue’s is definitely one of them, along with Vanderbilt's and Minnesota’s courts.
To Vanderbilt: Why do you have the benches at the baseline? What purpose does that serve? I would think it makes life more difficult for the teams. Have you ever wondered why no other school has that set up?
To Purdue and Minnesota: Why do your courts need to be raised above the ground? Doesn’t that seem dangerous? Purdue’s entire court is not raised above the ground technically, the benches and score table are in a sort of pit and the benches are so far away from the actual court. I don’t get it.

Final Score: #9 Michigan State: 54, #23 Purdue: 60

Moral of the game: Purdue is good, at least at this moment in time.

Waiting for Tonight

Super Tuesday
#9 Michigan State plays #23 Purdue
+ we get to be entertained by Brent, Steve, and Erin


Best friends forever, Brent and Steve, relaxing at the Kohl Center before going out the bars on State Street in Madison


Erin showing off the fish her and Brent and Steve supposedly caught while ice fishing in Madison with Greg Stiemsma.

Televised Big Ten Basketball This Week

This is a great week for televised Big Ten basketball; the only uninteresting game should be Thursday when Michigan goes to the boring state of Iowa. One of the best games this week will be Wednesday 7pm when #14 Wisconsin plays at #12 Indiana. Unfortunately, ESPN is broadcasting Maryland vs Duke, and ESPN2 would rather broadcast 2 average Big East teams, St. John’s vs Cincinnati.

2/10 Sunday: 1 pm CBS
#13 Indiana vs Ohio State
Indiana is coming off a double OT win at Illinois and has a tough schedule this week. After playing Ohio State, they are scheduled to face Wisconsin and Michigan State.
avg ppg: Indiana 77.3, Ohio State 68.6
opp ppg: Indiana 62.9, Ohio State 59.8

2/12 Super Tuesday: 7pm ESPN
# 9 Michigan State vs #23 Purdue
Michigan State dropped in the rankings after a surprising loss to Penn State last Saturday. Purdue is on a 9 game winning streak, and upset #8 Wisconsin on Saturday. This should be a really good/interesting game since these are two of the better teams in the Big Ten. Another reason to watch this game: Super Tuesday = Lavinburger.
avg ppg: Michigan State 73.8, Purdue 68.8
opp ppg: Michigan State 62.4, Purdue 61.0

2/14 Thursday: 9pm ESPN
Michigan vs Iowa
Michigan used to be on a 6 game losing streak, but was fortunate enough to play Penn State on Saturday to break that streak. Minnesota beat Iowa by 13 on Saturday. It seemed like the Iowa players didn’t really care about winning and just wanted to go home. Iowa: horrible at offensive rebounding, lowest ppg in the conference, and has the worst turnover margin in the Big Ten (21 turnovers vs Minnesota!). How did they ever beat anyone? However, they are 2nd in the conference in opponent’s ppg, so just as long as they can keep the score really low they may have a chance at winning. The #1 Law of Basketball*: No team will ever be successful turning the ball over. *Disclaimer: The #1 Law of Basketball is not backed up by research or evidence.
avg ppg: Michigan 64.7, Iowa 56.5
opp ppg: Michigan 70.8, Iowa 57.6

2/16 Saturday: 9pm ESPN
#9 Michigan State vs #12 Indiana
2 good Big Ten teams, Eric Gordon, DJ White, Drew Neitzel: should be a good, high scoring game.
avg ppg: Michigan State 73.8, Indiana 77.3
opp ppg: Michigan State 62.4, Indiana 62.9

Big Ten Standings
Purdue 10-1
Indiana 8-1
Wisconsin 9-2
Michigan State 8-2
Ohio State 7-3
Minnesota 5-5
Iowa 4-8
Penn State 3-8
Illinois 2-9
Michigan 2-9
Northwestern 0-10

Upset Alert!

Purdue beat #8 Wisconsin to take control of the Big Ten. Wisconsin has lost to Purdue twice this year. Today’s loss comes at the Kohl Center, which ends Wisconsin’s 16 game home conference winning streak. Wisconsin’s loss can be partially attributed to 18 turnovers and a 33% field goal percentage, things that don’t happen often to the Badgers.

Where is Brent?

Tomorrow/Actually today: Weekly Televised Big Ten Preview

Indiana vs Illinios

I was actually able to watch most of the first half of the Indiana Illinois game (I wish I could have seen the 2nd half instead because Indiana won in double OT). Rece Davis and Jay Bilas were the announcers with Pat Forde as the sideline reporter, and they actually said intellectual things pertinent to the game. Clearly, they do not know how to announce basketball games. Jay said that he didn’t think the Illinois players wanted to shut down Eric Gordon just because he didn’t go to Illinois; that they wanted to stop him because he was a good player. Did I really hear something so intelligent from an announcer during a Big Ten game?! Brent would never say something so logical, and Erin would be doing her part to hype the fake story that the only thing the Illinois players thought about all week and what they were thinking about during the game was how Eric Gordon said he was going to go to Illinois but didn't. So where were Brent, Steve, and Erin? What else do they do besides announce Big Ten basketball games for ESPN? Seriously, I do not know.

"It's awesome baby"

Last night Dick Vitale, a P-T-announcer, returned to the basketball announcing world as Duke beat North Carolina.

Cheaters

Brent and Steve cheated on the Big Ten on Saturday when they announced the Duke vs Miami game. I feel betrayed. They should only be allowed to announce Big Ten games.

Televised Big Ten Basketball This Week

3 televised Big Ten games this week, hopefully all feature great performances by the Lavinberger Team.

2/5 Super Tuesday: 7pm ESPN
Michigan vs Ohio State

There will be no reason to watch this game for the basketball since Michigan is horrible (2nd to last in the Big Ten), and are on a 5 game Big Ten losing streak. However, they were capable of beating Northwestern, which has yet to win a game in the Big Ten.
avg ppg: Michigan 65, Ohio State 68.7
opp ppg: Michigan 71.5, Ohio State 60

2/7 Thursday: 9pm ESPN
#11 Indiana vs Illinois

This game could be interesting if Illinois shows up to play. Big announcing stories of the game: Erin will probably be giving us more information on Eric Gordon's wrist than we care to know about. Pretty sure Brent and Steve will attribute Indiana's loss to Wisconsin last Thursday to Gordon's left hand. Maybe his wrist will be healed by Thursday! But then Erin will be out of a job, and Eric Gordon's dad will be able to watch the game in peace. The other big story is that Eric Gordon verbally committed to going to Illinois, but changed his mind and is now leading the Hoosiers with 21.4 points per game. My Friend is still upset about this.
avg ppg: Indiana 77.1, Illinois 65.1
opp ppg: Indiana 62.1, Illinois 61.7

2/9 Saturday: 2pm ESPN
Iowa vs Minnesota

The only possibility for this game to be interesting to watch is if Brent and Steve are out of their minds wasted. Both teams are in the middle of the Big Ten standings, and neither myself or My Friend are at all interested in Iowa or Minnesota. Interesting stat: Minnesota has the best turnover margin in the Big Ten and Iowa has the worst.
avg ppg: Iowa 56.9, Minnesota 73.7
opp ppg: Iowa 57.3, Minnesota 63.1

Big Ten Standings
Purdue 8-1
Wisconsin 7-1
Indiana 6-1
Michigan State 7-2
Ohio State 6-3
Minnesota 3-4
Iowa 4-6
Penn State 3-6
Illinois 2-8
Michigan 1-8
Northwestern 0-7

Big Ten Upsets!

So I come home tonight and look at the Big Ten scoreboard on ESPN.com and I see some craziness. 1. Purdue beat Illinois. No surprise there, sorry My Friend. 2. Iowa beat Ohio State, but the biggest surprise: 3. Penn State beat Michigan State by 9 points! This is all good news for Wisconsin, except for Purdue winning. Looks like Drew Neitzel's strategy of just throwing up shots whenever he is within 5 feet of the 3 point line failed him tonight.

Tomorrow: Northwestern plays #11 Indiana and #13 Wisconsin plays at Minnesota. And my soon to be weekly "Televised Big Ten Week Preview."

The Best of Brent

Since Brent's announcing performance last night was disappointing, here are some Brent classics.

"Be careful what you do in a bar with youtube around."


"Let's get a beer, coach."


And here are our 3 favorite announcers ice fishing in Wisconsin!


The highlight of last night's Wisconsin vs Indiana game was actually the game, not Brent. And the worst part of the game was Erin talking about Eric Gordon's wrist every 5 seconds. Maybe someday she will report on something important.

One and done.