Villanova won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Monday night, in dramatic fashion.
I was excited for them because my brother-in-law is a ‘nova grad and because my alma mater, Xavier, plays in the same conference as them (and was one of only 5 teams to beat them this season, btw). But I was also happy because Villanova is a small school, and they usually don’t get to wear the crown. Here’s a stat from an ESPN.com article about the game and how it was a victory for all the little guys:
Entering Monday’s game, Kentucky, Duke, Connecticut and North Carolina had won 12 of the previous 20 national championships in Division I basketball… Even the teams that sneaked into the club in the past 20 years — Syracuse, Louisville, Florida, Kansas, Michigan State, etc. — do not qualify as true underdogs.
At a time when many of the traditional powerhouses are recruiting one-and-done players, schools that keep their players all four years probably have a better chance of winning it all. So here’s hoping the little guy era has begun.
Yesterday and today, during the opening round of the NCAA basketball tournament, this is how our living room is set up. Games are on 4 channels, so we need 3 TVs and a computer monitor. Maybe this is why it’s called March Madness.
A few observations from yesterday’s action:
Enough already with the Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Charles Barkley commercials
Ditto for the DirecTV “settlers” ads
There were quite a few players who slipped on the court late in the game, at crucial times. Could the NCAA’s “let’s install the same generic looking court at every venue” policy be to blame?
There’s nothing more fun than a first round upset by Yale… unless it’s a 2nd round upset by Yale (they’re playing the dreaded Duke Blue Devils).
The double OT game between Purdue and University of Arkansas-Little Rock was the most fun to watch.
Providence’s last-second layup was really the closest we’ve come to a buzzer-beater.
My Xavier Musketeers play late tonight. Saw this bus on the road yesterday:
As a college basketball fan, I love the madness of March. But I do find the obsession with “bracketology” rather maddening. For more than 2 months, the bracket experts have been creating mock brackets, predicting which teams will make the field of 68 and which teams won’t.
It just seems a bit silly to me, all that energy expended on something that’s out of your control. Instead of worrying, gnashing your teeth and spending countless hours religiously following the latest “breaking news” on the “last 4 teams in” and “first four teams” out—which change on a daily or even hourly basis—here’s a novel idea:
A. Watch the actual conference tournament basketball games.
B. Tune in tomorrow night to see who makes the field and what their seed is.
Bracketology is not a sport, it’s an exercise in futility. I’m happy for people like Joe Lunardi (“Joey Brackets”) who have been able to make a living by being pretty accurate in predicting which teams will make the tourney. But to me it’s very similar to the old saw about “everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” Unless you are one of the 10 people on the official NCAA selection committee, you’re wasting your time thinking about it.
Up next: why “mock NFL drafts” are really just mocking anyone who believes them.
I grew up in Arkansas from age 6 through high school, so I’m a fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks sports teams, especially football and basketball, and I still try to catch their games on TV. This year the b-ball Hogs (or “Hawgs” as they say in Arkansas) have a junior guard (a transfer from Texas Tech) named Dusty Hannahs, and every time I watch a game, all I can think about is The Karate Kid and My Cousin Vinny because Dusty is a dead ringer for Ralph Macchio.
The 3-point shot is Dusty’s “Crane Kick”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nle_WV_UY5E
If he gets hurt, they will need to summon Mr. Miyagi to the bench to heal him.
The Super Bowl to end all Super Bowls (at least until next year) is just a day away… and already I’m sick of the hype. Not the hype for the game – I’m oblivious to that after years of Roman Numerals being shoved in my face XXIV/VII (see what I did there?). I’m sick of the hype for the halftime show. Excuse me, I meant to say “The Greatest Halftime Spectacle In The History of The Universe” or whatever they’re calling this year’s gig. They went with the Chinese Restaurant menu approach this year – one from each column – Coldplay for the aging wannabe hipsters, Beyonce for the soul sisters, and Bruno Mars for… well, pretty much everybody else. And of course they have a corporate sponsor, because there’s a sponsor for everything. I’m surprised they don’t say “This Geico commercial is sponsored by Bud Light.”
Call me an old fuddy duddy (merely typing that phrase makes me an old fuddy duddy) but I actually miss the early Super Bowls before the greedy tentacles of the NFL and advertisers hijacked the halftime show. For many years, the “entertainment” (using that term very loosely) was Up With People – a group of overly earnest teens singing easy listening versions of the day’s top hits. Sort of like an Osmond Family clone army. Sure they were super cheesy and super lame, but who cares? It’s halftime – time to reload on food and drinks.
Peyton Manning’s forehead is so large that it should be called a fivehead. But not only is Peyton a great quarterback, he’s also a legendary pitchman, for everyone from Papa John’s Pizza to Nationwide Insurance. Similar to the old adage “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade,” Peyton has realized that when life hands you a fivehead, make some cash off of it.
Knowing that a 30-second commercial for this Sunday’s Super Bowl costs a whopping $5 million, and knowing that his forehead is larger than many billboards and will be constantly shown on the broadcast of what will in all likelihood be his final game, Peyton has a deal for you:
He’ll be attaching decals to his forehead using Stickum, and swapping them out on a regular basis. Here’s his rate card:
Pregame interviews: $1 million
1st quarter: $1.5 million
2nd quarter: $1.5 million
Halftime walk to locker room: $500,000
3rd quarter: $2 million
4th quarter: $7 million – this price is a lot higher because Peyton figures by then his Broncos will be getting crushed by the Panthers and there will be a lot of shots of him on the sidelines with his helmet off, looking forlorn.
You done said…