ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber’s last column for the WWL.  She was one of the most overlooked, underappreciated, and brilliant voices in sports media.  [ESPN]
Another vote for the Bears trading for Jay Cutler.  Your move Angelo.  [Sun-Times]
Chester Frazier a “long shot” to play in the NCAA Tournament.  So you’re telling me there’s a chance…[Tribune]
Don’t sleep [...]

Last week we let you know about a couple of things we have planned here at NQTC for the NCAA Tournament.  Since I completely jumped the gun on posting that, here we go again. 
First, we have a group set up on ESPN.com for the Tournament Challenge.  It’s free, easy, and you can win a Not [...]

NQTC has a sort of love for Jay Mariotti.  And by love I mean we hate the guy.  There is no bigger douchebag in all of sports media (I guess that’s arguable, but as a Chicagoan Jay pretty much takes the cake).  We make a special effort to cover anything that mocks Mariotti, as you [...]

Illinois pulled the much maligned 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament and they’ll play the 12-seed Western Kentucky in the first round.  The Hilltoppers of course have the best mascot in sports history.

So already you have to be worried.  The Hilltoppers should actual give Illinois plenty to think about this week, judging by a quick look [...]

March is the best month in all of sports, no question about it.  I was sitting at my computer last night staring at some brackets, when I remembered my favorite moment in NCAA tournament history.  Everyone’s is different I guess, but this is the one for me.  “Williams to tie it with a three..OHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Illinois got the 5 seed everyone was expecting them to get.  If they get past the first round, Gonzaga is going to be a tough matchup for the Illini. [Sun-Times]
Speaking of the Illini, remember Jamar Smith?  Well he’s not leaving teammates for dead anymore, and his ankle bracelet comes off soon.  Hooray! [Deadspin]
Some Cubs fans [...]

The early games are just about finished, with Michigan State beating Minnesota 64-56 and Ohio State and Wisconsin still going at it and it looks like it could go down to the wire….
5:30 pm (2) Illinois vs. (7) Michigan-
The first issue that comes to mind with this game is the availability of Chester Frazier for [...]

More comments from Jay Mariotti’s columns on FanHouse are coming your way.  There actually seem to be fewer comments on each post, so maybe Jay is wearing down the critics with his “drivel” as one commenter said last week.  We need better material here people, step it up! We’ll start with comments from Jay’s column [...]

Day one of the Big Ten Tourney was pretty boring, to put it bluntly.  Minnesota led pretty much the whole way and ended any hopes Northwestern had for their first ever tournament  berth.  Then Michigan jumped out to an early lead and never looked back against Iowa, all but clinching their first tournament appearance in [...]

Some slogans, ad campaigns, and catchphrases just get old.  I’ve always thought March Madness would be one of those things.  Great advertising tool and apt name for a time of the year every sports fan can get into, but it’s so omni-present this time of year from everything from sports shows to used car ads.  [...]

Will the Japanese Colonel Sanders reverse the Cubs curse?  Can we please stop talking about a curse? [Deadspin]
Illinois vs. Michigan today at 5:30 ct.  Illinois needs a solid run in this tourney if they want to get a 4 or 5 seed. [Tribune]
The Chicago Bears are re-signing Marcus Hamilton, so that’s another crappy DB to [...]

Are you unhappy with how Joakim Noah’s NBA career has turned out?  Have you always disliked him even going back to his chest-thumping days at Florida?  Does it annoy you that his hair looks like he hasn’t washed it since 1996?  Well someone really doesn’t like him, and chose a hilarious way to show it.  While [...]

In the spirit of Michael Scott and the Office, we roasted the Chicago Bulls a while back and got a pretty good response.  It’s probably because the Bulls are so hilariously awful, but here we go again with the basketball teams of the Big Ten.
Purdue, every time someone slips on the court, I still blame [...]

The Blackhawks really needed a win last night and finally got one when Cristobal Huet stopped Sergei Samsonov in the shootout.  After giving up a goal with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation, not coming out of the game with two points would have been very disappointing.
Carolina got on the board first, but the [...]

When Luol Deng was first injured, the Bulls listed him as day-to-day and no one thought much of it.  After keeping him as day-to-day for two weeks, they finally came out and said that he was injured and would be out at least two weeks with the possibility of surgery.  No big deal, right?  Just [...]