LavinBurger: Where Are They Now?

We haven't heard anything from the LavinBurger crew since the Big Ten tournament with the exception of a few Steve Lavin appearances on those ESPN college basketball shows. But today was opening day for baseball and Brent and Erin were both on the job. Brent was working in Chicago and Erin was in California working as the "sideline" reporter. Too bad they aren't a team for baseball too.

Here's a little Brent/Steve craziness from the Big Ten tournament that you might have missed to help you get through these LavinBurger-less times.

"It's Madness Folks"

I think Brent was referring to Steve's hair when he said that.
First thing Brent and Steve talk about: Steve’s hair and the lack of product in it. However, I definitely care more about Steve’s hair than the game tonight. This game is so boring and meaningless I think ESPN is making Brent and Steve announce this game as punishment for being so annoying sometimes. I think ESPN's strategy backfired because Brent and Steve are happily talking about the dumbest things ever.

Big story of the night for Erin: a kid on Mount St. Mary’s lost his jersey on the way to the game. The Great Jersey Caper, according to Brent.

Here's the video of the beginning of the game where we get the first look at Steve's crazy hair. Curses to the airline that lost Steve's hair gel!

LavinBurger One More Time

Brent, Steve, and Erin are announcing the play in game tonight at 7:30 on ESPN. Mount St. Mary's vs Coppin State. I think I might watch just for the announcing. It's their last game of the basketball season :(

“Rumor Has It, Brent Musburger Wants To Be Your Agent”

That quote was from Erin’s postgame interview with Michael Flowers.

Brent and Steve are very calm and sane when doing these Big Ten Tournament games. Either they are hungover, or they don’t like drinking so early in the day. Watching these games made me realize that Brent and Steve can be pretty good announcers sometimes instead of just entertainment. Usually they stayed focused on the game, and at times they were quiet…It’s nice not hearing constant talking. The fact that they go absolutely insane sometimes and say incredibly stupid things, especially about Erin Andrews, makes people think they are horrible announcers, and then people with blogs make fun of them all the time :) I think another cause of LavinBurger’s craziness is boredom.

Brian Butch only scored 1 point all game so after Butch missed a shot:
“The iceberg is melting and the Polar Bear is in danger.” - Brent
“Gotta get him some nutrition. Get him some fish.” - Steve

LavinBurger has also nicknamed Greg Stiemsma the Iceman because they went ice fishing with him once. Take Brent and Steve ice fishing and they will love you forever. Brent and Steve mentioned that they are sad that the Iceman and the Polar Bear are both seniors. Then ESPN showed a graphic on the screen:
Brent and Lav’s Players Sad to See Leave
DJ White
Brian Butch
Eric Gordon
Jamar Butler

By a couple minutes into the 2nd half, Wisconsin had the game under control, so that gave Brent and Steve plenty of time to talk about random things.

Brent and Steve are lobbying for Michael Flowers to play defensive back in the NFL.

“We gotta get some Erin Andrews.” – Steve

Michigan broke the record for fewest points scored by a team in the Big Ten Tournament this afternoon with 34.

LavinBurger and the Big Ten Tournament

The Big Ten Tournament is this Thursday through Saturday, and we will have 4 opportunities to see the LavinBurger team in action in the Big Ten.

Big Ten 1st Round - Thursday, March 13
Illinois vs Penn State, 2:30 ESPN2: Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin
Northwestern vs Minnesota, 4:30 ESPN2: Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin

Big Ten Quarterfinals - Friday, March 14
Wisconsin vs Michigan/Iowa, 12:00 ESPN: Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin, Erin Andrews
Michigan State vs Ohio State, 2:00 ESPN: Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin, Erin Andrews

The semifinal and championship games will be on CBS and will be announced by Jim Nantz and Billy Packer.

Televised Big Ten Basketball This Week

One more televised game, and only 3 more games total, until the conference tournament. No more Super Tuesdays until next year.

3/9 Sunday: 2pm ESPN
#12 Indiana vs Penn State
avg ppg: Indiana 76.1, Penn State 65.1
opp ppg: Indiana 58.4, Penn State 68.4

March 13-16 Big Ten Tournament. Here’s the bracket:
http://bigten.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/big10/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/bracket

Big Ten Standings
Wisconsin 16-2
Indiana 14-3
Purdue 14-3
Michigan State 12-5
Ohio State 9-8
Minnesota 8-10
Penn State 6-11
Iowa 6-12
Michigan 5-12
Illinois 5-13
Northwestern 1-17

"I'm BiCoastal!"

Saturday @ 3:30 on ABC, Brent Musburger and Steve Lavin announced the California vs UCLA game, but no Erin Andrews (she's hanging out with Dick Vitale before they do the Duke UNC game tonight). Brent and Steve were not crazy and they were more laid back than they are for Big Ten games. It was almost as if they actually thought before they spoke. Maybe the producers yelled at them for being so crazy. Maybe they act more normal when they are on ABC on Saturdays. Maybe the Big Ten makes them crazy. Or maybe it’s because Erin Andrews wasn’t there. When Erin isn’t around, Brent and Steve have to take over for her and talk about insignificant things and do the human interest stories every once in a while. Maybe doing that extra work takes away from their abilities to be crazy.

Good news: “One and done” is back.

Brent Musburger and Steve Lavin are Lost Without You, Erin Andrews

With Brent Musburger and Steve Lavin announcing tonight’s Big Ten match up of Michigan State vs Illinois without Erin Andrews, tonight’s game was an opportunity to test my hypothesis that Erin provokes a lot of the LavinBurger insanity. However, even the thought of Erin in Brent or Steve’s mind can cause crazy comments to be aired on national television, so Erin’s influence is never really gone. I only saw the last 12 minutes of this game, but Brent and Steve seemed like completely normal people. They were very serious about everything, talked only about things pertinent to the game, and didn’t make up any weird catch phrases. They were being good announcers who don’t make you want to mute the game. But being good announcers is not what we want to see from Brent and Steve. Erin, come back!

There was one crazy moment though. Steve’s master plan for Illinois to get Chief Illiniwek back: Chief Peacock – the same as Chief Illiniwek except he will be called Chief Peacock and therefore no one will be offended.

Brent and Steve’s Final 4 Picks:
Brent
UCONN UCLA Louisville Wisconsin
Steve
Kansas Georgetown UCLA Louisville

Final Score: #18 Michigan State: 59, Illinois 51

"We Welcome You to Super Tuesday, Basketball Style."

Brent Musburger: Just like Obama vs Hillary. And we’ll count the points next.

Steve Lavin sounded like the drunk one tonight…and actually, I’ve never seen him so crazy. Brent was relatively calm.

One of Brent’s favorite coaches, Thad Matta, was on the sideline tonight, but Brent didn’t seem completely occupied with him as he usually is.

Steve was talking about how Othello Hunter’s mohawk could inspire Ohio State, like a rally cap. What a great theory, Steve. 2 minutes later, Steve brought up Hunter’s hair again. Steve reported that the word on the street is that Othello Hunter’s mohawk is called the ohawk. Great investigative reporting, something usually only Erin Andrews has the ability to handle. Later in the first half, they attributed Hunter’s good playing to his hair, but earlier in the half they said that his good play is due to the LavinBurger team being there. Is it the hair or the presence of ESPN announcers?

“Unfortunately, from Thad Matta’s perspective, we can’t travel with the team” – Steve
(I wish Brent, Steve, and Erin could travel with me.)

“You have to be smart. Pick your spots when you’re going to whack someone.” – Steve

We learned tonight that Brent Musburger never misses an opportunity to take a shot at Al Gore.

The chemistry between Brent and Steve seemed a little off tonight at times.

I hope nothing exciting happened in the 2nd half because I missed it.

Ohio State won in overtime! Wisconsin has a good chance of winning the Big Ten, only Penn State and Northwestern stand in their way.

Final Score: Ohio State 80, #15 Purdue 77
Purdue really screwed up tonight.

LavinBurger TV Appearances This Week

As usual the LavinBurger team will be announcing the Super Tuesday Big Ten game, but they will also be in Illinois for the Thursday game. However, Erin will be deserting them Thursday night. Is she fed up with all the harassment Brent and Steve are giving her? I hope not. Erin is an integral part of the LavinBurger team because she provokes their craziness. Saturday Brent and Steve will be announcing the California @ UCLA game 3:30 on ESPN, but Erin will be in North Carolina for the Duke vs UNC game with Dan Shulman and Dickie V. I'm surprised Brent and Steve let Erin cheat on them like this. I wonder if Brent and Dickie V fight over who gets to announce with Erin.

Televised Big Ten Basketball This Week

3/2 Sunday: 2pm CBS
#17 Indiana vs #18 Michigan State
Michigan State is out of the fight for #1 in the Big Ten, while Indiana still has a chance. Indiana is on a 4 game winning streak. This should be an exciting game, and the Spartans could take any hopes of the Big Ten title away from Indiana.
avg ppg: Indiana 76.4, Michigan State 71.7
opp ppg: Indiana 63.8, Michigan State 61.9

3/4 Super Tuesday: 7pm ESPN
#15 Purdue vs Ohio State
Ohio State is on a 4 game losing streak. There’s a good chance the Boilermakers and the Badgers will both finish the season 16-2.
avg ppg: Purdue 68.4, Ohio State 67.0
opp ppg: Purdue 60.2, Ohio State 60.8

3/6 Thursday: 9pm ESPN
#17 Michigan State vs Illinois
Illinois has dropped to 2nd to last in the Big Ten.
avg ppg: Michigan State 71.7, Illinois 64.4
opp ppg: Michigan State 61.9, Illinois 61.4

Big Ten Standings
Wisconsin 14-2
Purdue 14-2
Indiana 13-2
Michigan State 10-5
Minnesota 8-8
Ohio State 8-8
Penn State 6-10
Iowa 5-12
Michigan 5-12
Illinois 4-12
Northwestern 1-15 (Northwestern beat Michigan)