ST. PATRCIK'S DAY

• I'm not a fan. But Paul, don't you spend half your waking hours in bars? No, I don't. I spend 75%. But I don't like too high of a "worthless" quotient. What's being "worthless?" When you're so out-of-your-mind drunk that you can't speak, can't stand up straight, can't remember something said to you 10 minutes ago, can't ride in a cab without ordering the driver like he's a peasant, can't remember that songs like "Jessie's Girl" and "Walking on Sunshine" are NEVER to be sung by men (let alone danced to), can't finish a beer without dropping it all over the floor, can't conduct a cell-phone conversation without screaming. On St. Patrick's Day, the "worthless" quotient is, as they say in Major League, "too high." (Also see: New Year's Eve)

• Firemen drinking while in uniform really, really bugs me. A few pops, cool. You wanna get blasted with Sully, Smitty and the rest of the 40-year-old frat boys? Then bring a change of clothes and represent yourself, not the city. Not asking anyone to be a saint here. Just don't taint the good guys by acting like a stooge in uniform.

• Primo drinking hours: noon-5 p.m. Pros only, and everyone's on the same plane — building, building, but not yet worthless. After that you start to mix in the suits and other amateurs till every place is packed to the gills ... and you see your first puddle of vomit. Stay out at your own risk.

Links:

• MurhGuide.com's Guide to St. Pat's Events in New York — Sorted by neighborhood, so you can pick a place close enough to stumble home from.

• The History of St. Patrick's Day — Learn about the origins of the hoiday, before it turned into a big pukefest.

• St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York — Thursday will be the 244th consecutive year up Fifth Avenue, beginning at 11 a.m. Now that's pretty cool.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The Syracuse bandwagon is strictly standing-room only. I never thought I'd see the Orange as a 4-seed in a region with top-seeded Duke and the media would be favoring us to advance to the Final Four. And people seem to be dismissing the bottom half of that region, even with Kentucky and Oklahoma both seeded higher than the 'Cuse. On Duke's jock: Dick Vitale. Shocker!

• The best tournament in the high-school draftee era? Look, the NCAA tourney is never, ever going to match something like 1983, when we had the likes of Georgetown (with Ewing), North Carolina (with Jordan and Perkins), Houston (with Olajuwon and Drexler), Virginia (with Sampson) and St. John's (with Mullin). But I'm digging the way that, even with everyone picking an Illinois-UNC final, legitimate championship contenders stretch all the way to the 5-seeds, ending right around Georgia Tech. Which is why I'm sticking by my long-held belief that the regional semifinals is the best part of the tournament, not the first couple of days. Eight incredible potential matchups on the horizon.

• I've seen one "expert," Fran Fraschilla, pick top-seeded Washington to get to St. Louis. Haven't seen one pick Kansas. Nor Kentucky. Did you ever think those last two power teams, as 3-seeds, could be considered bracket-busters?

Links:

• ESPN's Expert Final Four Picks — Combined with SI.com and SportsLine.com, we've got 18 "experts." North Carolina (17) is the heavy favorite in the Syracuse region. Florida (1) picks up the only alternative backing. Illinois (12) is the pick in Chicago, with Oklahoma State (6) supported by the rest. In Albuquerque, it's Wake Forest (11), Louisville (4), Gonzaga (3) and Washingon (1). And in Austin, your favorite region and mine, it's Syracuse (10), Duke (6), Oklahoma (1) and Michigan State (1). For the national championship, it's North Carolina (9), Illinois (6), Wake Forest (2) and Syracuse (1). All the ESPN guys pick an ACC school. Shocker!

• ESPN.com's National Bracket — An aggregate of picks made in the bracket pool. Illinois by a nose over UNC for the title. Not that I don't like either team, but I'd love to see 'em both go out early and blow this thing wide open.

• 2005 NCAA Tournament Schedule — This is a must-bookmark page to keep track of all the start times. A second-round game for 'Cuse would come during one of my football games, and I haven't missed a minute of SU tourney play in 15 years. Someone had better be ready for my every-10-minutes cell-phone calls.

• Bracket Look: Snubs, Flubs and What We Learned — I just wanted to throw this link out there, because bad web production drives me crazy. Ya know how some sites link first-mentions of schools to their team pages? Well, FOXSports.com does that on every mention, rendering the piece absolutely unreadable. As a FOX alumnus, I'm horrified ... and not surprised. (Keep close tabs on author Yoni Cohen's college hoops blog during the next couple of weeks, though.)

STEROID HEARINGS ON CAPITOL HILL

• I don't expect fireworks. I think Congress already achieved its goal, which is to knock MLB off its high-horse with its "don't ask, don't tell" policy that basically spit in the public's face. I'm not even sure they're gonna ask Mark McGwire directly if he used illegal substances. And if they do, you'll be able to hear a pin drop before he answers. And you can be sure he's practiced that response in a mirror all week.

• I wonder how Curt Schilling is going to work a dig on A-Rod into his testimony.

• I'm betting Jose Canseco's testimony provides us with some of the funniest baseball moments in history, right up there with Lee Elia's tirade against Cubs fans. Especially if Can-Sucko talks again about how steroids enhanced his sex life and how he shot McGwire in the ass in a bathroom stall.

• Hard to imagine MLB execs getting into much trouble. So they had their suspicions but didn't press the issue. Why would they? What could they do about it anyway? Zip. The Players Association has ruled that roost for decades, man. Unless there's evidence that these guys knew for sure that players were using steroids, then their testimony is quite simple: "Of course, I've noticed a significant change in the body shape of these world-class athletes. I've also noticed an equally significant evolution in advanced training techniques employed by them. I've been very close to these athletes and know the respect they have for their bodies. The thought that any of them would jeopardize their health by ingesting illegal and dangerous substances is not something I thought was feasible. Once we learned a disappointing 7% of players tested positive for steroids, we immediately took action to employ the strictest steroid-testing policy allowed under our agreement with the Players Association."

Links:

• ESPN.com Special Secion: The Steroid Scandal — A single-destination for the latest news and analysis regarding Jose Canseco's wet dream. I don't think Wile E. Coyote wanted to catch the Road Runner as much Canseco wants to take down McGwire.