The Train Daddy is back with the pain, daddy, and ready to hit you square in the mouth with some sports knowledge in a sexy way; the Madness of March is here and I am feeling funky! As always, I deliver the latest sports news and life lessons in an unedited kind of way that speaks to my loyal readers. So, what do I have for you this issue? Obviously we will talk a little college basketball, a Sochi breakdown on the Olympics, and then the good stuff will be thrown in the mix.

I wonder what Vladimir Putin thought about the double luge event. Is it a gay sport in the mind of the Russian Maniac? It is just two men, one taking the top, the other taking the bottom, flying down the ice at 90 mph. I can tell you one truth about Putin: he knows as well as many others Obama is a punk, an awful leader who talks big but does little. He knows Obama is soft. No doubt Putin sucks also, but he at least strikes fear into his enemies.

Can you imagine Obama and Putin together as a team, flying down the ice in the double luge event? We all know that Putin would be on top and Obama on the bottom!

As I said, the Madness of March is here, and there is not a better playoff system than the bracket. The entire country is ready to fill out those brackets; put some money in the pool, and then the marks on the bracket begin, hopefully kept to a minimum. You may agree or disagree with me on my statement that the NCAA playoff bracket is the best format in the world . . . but it is a fact! There is no other major sport that brings that much excitement in that sort of fashion. I never said I enjoyed it more than the NFL post-season; anyone who knows me, well, I live and breathe football. I am just saying college basketball has it figured out and the proof is in the pudding. Most people could care less about college basketball during the regular season; come March the entire country is down with the bracket and possible Cinderella stories. Obviously, the NFL is still America’s favorite sport—baseball took a back seat many, many, many years ago. I guess what I am saying here is that football is the Holy Grail of sports, but the Madness of March would win the Oscar for best playoff system.

Warren Buffett

So, the NCAA 2014 tournament is around the corner, and there will be plenty of basketball to watch. The brackets have yet to be set; the regions have yet to be set, but the Train Daddy is set and ready for some ball. Selection Sunday takes place March 16 at 6 p.m., and after that we will all have the info we need to fill out those brackets. Opening round games will begin March 18 and will last all the way until April 7, when the championship game will be played in Texas.

I have always been a Kansas Jayhawks fan, and they have always had a strong team year in and year out. That’s my squad. Florida and Wichita State look very strong; Wichita is the first team in a decade to finish their season undefeated. Last time was in 2004, when St. Joseph’s went undefeated. Watch out for Virginia basketball, that’s my pick as of now and they look strong. This is what is so great about the tournament: we talk about all these powerhouses and then the tournament begins, and always there is a Cinderella story. Everyone always roots for the underdog to beat the big, bad powerhouse team. Also, Warren Buffett has offered a billion dollars to anyone who can fill out a perfect bracket. It’s free to sign up and fill out online. Granted, the odds are 1 in 4,294,967,296, so good luck!

So let’s do some Sochi Sochi talk, the Olympic breakdown. Let’s start with the gold medal count, because it’s always about competition. Russia finished first, followed by Norway, Canada and then the United States, holding the fourth spot. The U.S. was second in medal count with 28 total medals, and also the leader in bronze medals with 12.

There were many stories in these Olympics, and American hockey is at the top of my list. The women imploded in the gold medal game vs. Canada, blowing a 2-0 lead late in the game, ultimately losing in overtime. In the world of women’s hockey, the Olympics is all you get: tough loss, and four years until you get another shot. The men’s hockey team failed to medal, being outscored 6-0 in medal rounds; at least they have a thriving sport to go back to, those poor American women have to wait.

This is the first time the host country swept both medal counts, gold and total, since Norway in 1952. From the four most recognizable American athletes—Shaun White, Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn and Shanni Davis—only 1 bronze medal was won. The Dutch did the most with the least; 24 medals coming from only 41 athletes. In comparison, Russia had 232 athletes and America has 230. My last memory of Sochi would have to be the Russian judge robbing the South Korean skater of gold and favoring the Russian teenager. Moments after the results came in, there was a hug exchanged between the judge and skater. Come on, man!

So, the Olympics are over, and we have the World Cup coming soon and then the Summer Olympics in two years. I don’t know about you, but I much more enjoy the Summer Olympics.

A few weeks ago ESPN aired an Outside the Lines special on the subject of the ‘N’ word, and the NFL’s proposed plan to penalize players who use the word. Watching this hourlong special made it clear there were many perspectives on the word between the older generation and the younger generation. I found myself glued to the television almost in awe over some of the comments made. The NFL competition committee is reportedly expected to enact an official rule banning the use of the word, resulting in yardage penalties on field. Imagine the ref having to explain that penalty over the loudspeaker: “Number 69 offense called number 58 defense a racial slur, 15-yard penalty,” and then the crowd riots. That might be a touchy subject for some players, especially after watching this series on ESPN.

After watching this special it was obvious the older African American generation despised the word, for good reason. The majority of the younger African American generation confessed they use this word quite regularly, on and off the field, nigga with an “a” rather than ending in “er.” It’s like saying, “What’s up, my brother?” Many times people being interviewed in this series stated it is OK for black people, but never for white people or any other race to use the word in a casual manner. Charles Barkley even chimed in last year, stating that he uses the word and white critics can’t stop him. “I’m a black man [and] I use the ‘N’ word. I’m going to continue using it with my black friends, with my white friends, they are my friends.” Barkley then stated that black people should be allowed to do their own thing—why? I hate the word personally, it is from a generation where the word was used with complete hate, to downgrade a race, and it was a very troubling time. Just watch 12 Years a Slave, recently winning best picture at the Oscars, a powerful movie that shows the demeaning use of the ‘N’ word. I believe Barkley’s comments are about as ignorant as they can be. The word is used in hip-hop constantly, while in high schools all over the country many consider it cool to talk that way. A word that has so much history and can ruffle so many feathers, in my opinion, shouldn’t be used by anyone. Many will disagree with me, and this conversation can go on and on and on, but we live in a new age and it’s ignorant to think anyone has the right to the word and others don’t. Just don’t say it, that’s my opinion.

Alrighty then, it’s time to wrap this thing up (always a good idea, gentlemen). Enjoy the madness of March, and don’t worry, the year is moving along fast and football will be back soon . . . can’t wait! Peyton has been cleared by doctors and the Broncos have their man at least another year. Enjoy the outdoors, plant a garden, do some work, get off your butt and enjoy life. Spring is upon us. Remember the finer things in life—like I always say, the 5 F’s: Faith, Family, Football, Food and Friends. The Train is out the station. Choo-choo!