On CBS Sportsline today, columnist Gregg Doyel slams the idea of Duke’s biggest cheerleader (Billy Packer is a close second) becoming a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Some of the highlights of the column include:

“….if Vitale makes it into my Hall of Fame, I’ll disown the damn thing. You can have it if Vitale, who didn’t achieve greatness but who had greatness thrust upon him like a pie thrust upon a clown’s face, gets in.”

“ I’d call him a sycophant, but the dictionary defines sycophant as ‘a servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.’ Vitale isn’t trying to flatter coaches; he’s titillating them through the television set. It’s gross.”

“He has become college basketball’s most recognized voice. But try something for me, please: Next time you’re driving a car, roll down your window. What’s the most recognizable voice on the road? The car missing the muffler — That’s Vitale. He’s loud. He’s persistent. He talks so much, he can’t stop.”

I take some degree of delight in how disgusted Doyel is by the thought of Vitale being enshrined in Springfield. Because, I kind of agree.

I don’t think Vitale has a case for enshrinement. He was sub-par as a coach and I think his on-air personality is polarizing at best. In the column, Doyel claims to have muted the volume whenever Vitale is calling a game. I’ve done the exact same thing and I think all of us have at one point or another (especially if Duke’s involved.)

Vitale’s as subtle as a RPG and I think his impact on college basketball is negligible. Consider this for a second: March Madness is one of the biggest sporting events in all of sport (second maybe only to the Super Bowl) and Vitale has no involvement. Does that mean people don’t care or don’t watch it? Hardly.

College basketball sells itself and it didn’t, and still doesn’t, need Vitale to help foster its growth.

Keep Dickie V out of Springfield.

There’s a new header on The Bottom Line. Being the proud IU alum that I am (Class of ‘06), I figured I’d make my allegiance to the Cream and Crimson known as March Madness heats up.

GO HOOSIERS!

Michigan forward Brent Petway shaved his head to look like the Michigan football helmet… niiiiiiice.

Losers of three of their last four, the Florida Gators, the defending national champions, are officially on a slide.

The Vanderbilt loss was tolerable but the losses at an LSU team that shot 52 percent and were playing without Glen Davis and at Rocky Top to a Tennessee team that I’m picking to make a first round exit come tournament have to make you wonder if this team really has what it takes to make a deep tournament run.

The problem with this team is simple: chemistry. Dickie V’s comments about a private conversation he had with coach Billy Donovan may have caused a permanent fissure between Donovan and “star” Joakim Noah. While he could have gone to the NBA last year and been a lock to go top 5 in a compartively weak ‘06 draft class, Noah would be lucky to go top 15 in a draft class that could include Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and Aaron Afflalo, if he declares after this season. Quite simply, averaging almost 13 points, 8 rebounds a night… the chest-pounding forward from New York City is one of the most overrated “stars” in all of college basketball. I can’t say I disagree with Donovan when he said NBA scouts would be crazy to take Noah over the 6′10″ Horford.

But all is not lost in Gainesville. If this team can pull together and make a deep run into the SEC tournament, they’ll be right back on track. In spite of this recent slide, I’d say the Gators are almost a can’t-miss to make it to the sweet 16.

Today in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, I happened across a column by Jim Moore, who inexplicably calls himself and his column the “Go 2 Guy.” Cheesy name aside, the column really disappointed me for any number of reasons not the first of which being that Moore’s column, whether he’d like to admit it or not, condones the felonious drug use and possession by two Gonzaga basketball.

According to Moore, when Josh Heytvelt, arguably Gonzaga’s best player and Theo Davis, didn’t turn their headlights on, the reason why a Spokane police officer stopped the Chevrolet Trail Blazer (the irony of the name of the vehicle they were in is striking) the two players were riding in, that was the worst decision they made that night.

Really, Jim? That was the worst decision they made that night. Are you sure it wasn’t the whole driving around with ‘shrooms in your car thing because that seems like an awfully bad decision to me.

Moore’s next genius dissection of this incident is the discovery by the police officer of aforementioned bag of ‘shrooms sticking out of Heytvelt’s gym bag. His analysis of this incident is so ungodly stupid, I can’t help but post it in its entirety.

“If I’m Heytvelt, as soon as I see blue lights in my rear-view mirror, the first thing I’m doing is “un-protruding” my mushrooms by stuffing them deep into my bag, underneath my sneakers and practice jersey and zipping the whole damn thing shut. That just seems like a Foreign-Substance Fundamental 101.”

There you go kids, if you’re riding around with mushrooms in your car, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Jim Moore gives you specific instructions on how to best hide your stash from the Po-Po.

And then there’s the kicker. An argument that I’ve heard one hundred times before from parents who freely used drugs themselves. And again, I’m going to have to quote Moore directly because I can’ t put it any better than he did.

“Yes, here in Washington those magic mushrooms are felonious goods, and I know I’m missing the point, that kids shouldn’t do drugs, period, particularly when they’re part of a team. It’s a privilege, not a right, and so on. But kids do do drugs.”

Not all kids do drugs, Jim. I’m 23 years old and I’ve never used an illegal drug in my life. I know that there are young people who have and do use illegal drugs on a regular basis but that doesn’t make it ok or, in this case, legal. I remember reading a feature in SI a month or so ago about Alando Tucker, the all-world Wisconsin forward who is probably the best all-around player in college basketball, making a pact with his father not to use drugs or alcohol. That seems to be working out pretty well for him, don’t you think? And you can bet that if he was busted with a bag of ‘shrooms or brownies laced with ‘shrooms, the local papers would eat him alive. They wouldn’t smirk and make light of a situation that, had it not happened to two Gonzaga basketball players likely would have resulted in jail time.

And then there’s the rub.

I’m not going to condone Heytvelt’s and Davis’ actions, but at the same time, haven’t they been punished enough? Reinstate Heytvelt in time for Saturday’s game against eighth-ranked Memphis and allow Davis to be a member of the team again.

Too often, society is willing to overlook the faults and slip-ups of the talented. And this is no exception. Who cares if you admittedly stole laptops from dorm rooms (UConn’s Marcus Williams) or were riding around in your Trail Blazer with a bag full of ‘shrooms if you can help us WIN?

Well done, Jim Moore.

Because I live in the South, I was unable to get the Illinois/Indiana game on CBS on Saturday, instead getting an UCLA/West Virginia game that turned out to be a classic.. still I remained uninterested and didn’t watch it.

After reading articles about the game in the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Indianapolis Star I think I got a pretty good feel for how the Hoosiers played and how Hoosier Nation greeted Bruce Weber.I think it’s safe to say that this is the rivalry that Hoosier fans and the team can hang its on. I’m not sure how Champaign will greet Eric Gordon when he steps foot in Assembly Hall but my guess is that it’s not going to pretty. But I think that the Hoosiers have their Darth Vader… he’s smug, unlikable… and he whines. They have a villain.

The traditional IU rivalries, Purdue and Kentucky have fizzled of late and Hoosier Nation needs someone to hate. And they’ve found that someone…

You think IU fans believe in their new coach?