Day 1: "Jogging" Commentary
It's not a running commentary. It's a jogging commentary. I'll scatter my updates throughout the day, listed from newest at the top to oldest at the bottom. As games finish, look for more posts. If the games are duds, my posts will be slim to West Virginia (that is, nil). The only way to tell if I've posted again - refresh your browser!
Off we go with the greatest weekend in sports!
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11:57 - For not the first time, the late games didn't live up to the early games. I have no theories why that happens. Do you?
A few final thoughts...
8:58 - We really need Wofford or Belmont to tighten one of these games up, other wise this is our first dud pack of games. At least Verne and Raft are making the BYU-Wofford game mildly entertaining.
6:46 pm - Outstanding first eight games. There was a quality game going being played constantly. The best part? We still have 3/4 of the first round left! Barring a surprisingly close Florida game, we're taking a little break here in the Sauna for St. Patrick's Day dinner.
6:32 pm - My dad asked if Richmond is from the same conference as Xavier. I always mix-up the A-10 and Conference USA, but...yes. Yes they do. It's very possible Temple and Xavier, like Richmond, are under-seeded. Gulp.
6:26 pm - Two straight bailout fouls on fairly clean-looking blocks by Darrius Garrett in the middle of that Richmond defense. But Richmond hits another sweet mid-range shot to push the lead to three with with 18 seconds to play. Ssssssspiders!
6:12 pm - Richmond-Vandy is a classic first round game. It's not like Vandy is playing poorly. They're just up against a mid-major with decent talent that has been able to get it's offensive game plan to work. Two contrasting styles, two even teams. Close as we approach the five-minute mark.
Even better, we've got the decades-old Lundquist-Raferty bromance in full bloom. Raferty works great with everyone, but Lundquist's love for Bill makes this duo extra-special.
5:40 pm - I could watch a loop of Goodman's three followed by Mike Marra getting stuffed for hours and hours. That was awesome. When they show that shot years from now, they'll also probably show the stuff because of how it precedes the celebration. Hee hee hee!
This intense hatred of Louisville is new for me. It comes out of the combination of last year and this year's disappointing losses to the Cardinals in the regular season. Honestly, I think my hatred of Louisville is second only to UConn right now.
5:12 pm - Mmm. Close for the Tigers. I thought they had one chance for a run-out on that in-bounds play. Now switching over to Richmond-Vandy, which is a smooth transition because the Spiders run the Princeton offense!
5:05 pm - If you had told me Princeton would be 3 for 14 from three, I would have bet the farm, literally, that they'd be getting blown out and they would NOT be tied with 34 seconds to go. Unreal.
3:57 pm - Break out your Morehead St gear and wear it with pride; there's nothing funny about the name today! Kyle Kuric won't haunt my dreams until 2012! Goodman's game winner was Kemba-esque. And Kenneth Faried...17 boards...one absurd dunk. These Eagles can play!
3:06 pm - Just broke out the green (win) and pink (lose) highlighters. Through two games, out of eight brackets, only one is still perfect!! Worse, it's my "contrarian" bracket, which I filled out last and went against the consensus of my other brackets. On the bright side, all the more reason to ignore my brackets and just root for upsets!
The contrarian bracket is always a nice way to whip out one last quick bracket on Thursday morning. Instead of agonizing over those 8-9 games, you just pick the team you've picked less in all of your other brackets combined. It was extra fun to fill it out in Starbucks; rifling through a small stack of brackets for 15 minutes definitely made me look like a gambling addict. If you're wondering, that bracket has UNC, UConn, and BYU in the final four with Kansas winning it all.
2:50 pm - As Butler ran that last, thrilling possession (GREAT play by Smith to keep that rebound alive for the legendary Matt Howard) there were three games ongoing: two ties (Morehead St!) and one 2-point game. Maaaaarrrrrch Madness!
2:36 pm - The 10-0 run to finish the 1st half and the 3-straight Pepper steals as Clemson was scraping back down the stretch sealed it for West Virginia. For what it's worth, I think Clemson did look a bit tired at points. Oh well. Big East fans who root for their own conference can be happy, I guess. Me, I like to laugh at Bob Huggins. It'll have to wait a round I guess.
1:34 pm - Speaking of commercials...um, assuming you're reading this bottom to top...I like to use that line from the skinny jeans-Bud Light commercials - "Score still 21-32?" "Yeah...like your pants size!" - whenever someone asks to confirm the score of any game. "Score still 42-40 West Virginia?" Yeah...like your pants size!" Zing! Gotcha dad!
Also, I hate those Bud Light commercials, and more generally the trend in commercials centering on people being jerks to each other. Why do those hot bartenders have to hate on those poor guys?!? They're just trying to express themselves as individuals!
1:30pm - Ha! I love that Toyota commercial with the kid shooting on the garage hoop! His game is just like my game; he looks like he can do everything but get the ball in the net. Also, I drive an '09 Camry! Meanwhile, West Virginia just took its first lead of the game and for some reason my dad is pulling for the Mountaineers! It's a bad situation.
12:32 pm - I'm not saying it's likely, but there is about a 10-15% chance Bobby Huggins misunderstood the play-in games and game-planned for VCU. Of course, the more likely explanation for West Virginia's early struggles is that they are terrible.
10:32 am - It's tough to stay on top of all of the relevant college basketball news in the three and a half days between Bracket Day and Day 1. You probably know about Kyrie Irving and Chris Wright coming back. You know that Brandon Davies and DJ Kennedy are out for the tournament. Here a couple more notent notables, just in case you waited until the last possible minute to fill out your bracket:
10:07 am - As someone who's run a few pools in his day (none since I work for Syracuse...don't worry Nancy!), I know how nice it is when people take the time to write out the full names of teams rather than take the short cut with potentially confusing acronyms or abbreviations. There's nothing more confusing and less elegant then seeing a bracket have KU beating UL and Pur en route to the Final Four. There are exceptions to the rule, however. Feel free to shorten "State" to "St" for example. If a team is listed on your bracket by its acronym, feel free to use it throughout. UAB, LIU, UNLV, USC, VCU, BYU and of course UCLA. Also, the following abbreviations are perfectly acceptable: UNC, Tenn (who can remember how many S's there are in Tennesssseee?), Cincy, UConn, SD St, Vandy, ODU, and Pitt. That is all.
9:10 am - I'm giddy! Polishing off a bunch of brackets at Starbucks. While you're waiting for the games to start, I thought this was pretty hilarious, other than the Orange metaphor. (Also, if you think it's crazy that Villanova finished 5-15...you're right. They finished with 5 wins in their final 15 games, or 5-10.)
2:00 am - Last night's post, ranking the teams from 1 to 64. If you liked my Big East tournament predictions, you'll love these picks! (Geheyeheyeheyehey... [Grabbing collar])
Off we go with the greatest weekend in sports!
------------------------------------------------------
11:57 - For not the first time, the late games didn't live up to the early games. I have no theories why that happens. Do you?
A few final thoughts...
- It's an annual tradition - doubting Pittsburgh after their first round game. OK, so they ended up pummeling UNC-Asheville. Still, they just never seem to have the offensive juice. That's not how they're built. They're brilliant defensively, and they'll out-Butler Butler on Saturday. But Wisconsin and Kansas State (starting to lose a lead against Utah St) look dangerous.
- BYU is in trouble against the Zags. The Cougars' lack of balance will be their undoing.
- Connecticut looked great in their first round game, but so did Cincinnati. Don't pencil UConn for a deep run quite yet. Anything can happen when teams from the same conference match-up.
- I promise you: Kentucky will dispatch West Virginia, avenging their loss in the Carrier Dome from last year's regional finals.
- Going into tomorrow, the biggest potential upset is Akron over Notre Dame. Akron won't be afraid, and Notre Dame isn't exactly an overwhelming force as a 2-seed. Most likely 3-seed to lose - while I think Indiana St is a solid team, I do believe Syracuse is a bad match-up for them. I'll say St. Peter's over Purdue. And I think Oakland will beat the 4-seed Longhorns if Texas isn't on its game.
8:58 - We really need Wofford or Belmont to tighten one of these games up, other wise this is our first dud pack of games. At least Verne and Raft are making the BYU-Wofford game mildly entertaining.
6:46 pm - Outstanding first eight games. There was a quality game going being played constantly. The best part? We still have 3/4 of the first round left! Barring a surprisingly close Florida game, we're taking a little break here in the Sauna for St. Patrick's Day dinner.
6:32 pm - My dad asked if Richmond is from the same conference as Xavier. I always mix-up the A-10 and Conference USA, but...yes. Yes they do. It's very possible Temple and Xavier, like Richmond, are under-seeded. Gulp.
6:26 pm - Two straight bailout fouls on fairly clean-looking blocks by Darrius Garrett in the middle of that Richmond defense. But Richmond hits another sweet mid-range shot to push the lead to three with with 18 seconds to play. Ssssssspiders!
6:12 pm - Richmond-Vandy is a classic first round game. It's not like Vandy is playing poorly. They're just up against a mid-major with decent talent that has been able to get it's offensive game plan to work. Two contrasting styles, two even teams. Close as we approach the five-minute mark.
Even better, we've got the decades-old Lundquist-Raferty bromance in full bloom. Raferty works great with everyone, but Lundquist's love for Bill makes this duo extra-special.
5:40 pm - I could watch a loop of Goodman's three followed by Mike Marra getting stuffed for hours and hours. That was awesome. When they show that shot years from now, they'll also probably show the stuff because of how it precedes the celebration. Hee hee hee!
This intense hatred of Louisville is new for me. It comes out of the combination of last year and this year's disappointing losses to the Cardinals in the regular season. Honestly, I think my hatred of Louisville is second only to UConn right now.
5:12 pm - Mmm. Close for the Tigers. I thought they had one chance for a run-out on that in-bounds play. Now switching over to Richmond-Vandy, which is a smooth transition because the Spiders run the Princeton offense!
5:05 pm - If you had told me Princeton would be 3 for 14 from three, I would have bet the farm, literally, that they'd be getting blown out and they would NOT be tied with 34 seconds to go. Unreal.
3:57 pm - Break out your Morehead St gear and wear it with pride; there's nothing funny about the name today! Kyle Kuric won't haunt my dreams until 2012! Goodman's game winner was Kemba-esque. And Kenneth Faried...17 boards...one absurd dunk. These Eagles can play!
3:06 pm - Just broke out the green (win) and pink (lose) highlighters. Through two games, out of eight brackets, only one is still perfect!! Worse, it's my "contrarian" bracket, which I filled out last and went against the consensus of my other brackets. On the bright side, all the more reason to ignore my brackets and just root for upsets!
The contrarian bracket is always a nice way to whip out one last quick bracket on Thursday morning. Instead of agonizing over those 8-9 games, you just pick the team you've picked less in all of your other brackets combined. It was extra fun to fill it out in Starbucks; rifling through a small stack of brackets for 15 minutes definitely made me look like a gambling addict. If you're wondering, that bracket has UNC, UConn, and BYU in the final four with Kansas winning it all.
2:50 pm - As Butler ran that last, thrilling possession (GREAT play by Smith to keep that rebound alive for the legendary Matt Howard) there were three games ongoing: two ties (Morehead St!) and one 2-point game. Maaaaarrrrrch Madness!
2:36 pm - The 10-0 run to finish the 1st half and the 3-straight Pepper steals as Clemson was scraping back down the stretch sealed it for West Virginia. For what it's worth, I think Clemson did look a bit tired at points. Oh well. Big East fans who root for their own conference can be happy, I guess. Me, I like to laugh at Bob Huggins. It'll have to wait a round I guess.
1:34 pm - Speaking of commercials...um, assuming you're reading this bottom to top...I like to use that line from the skinny jeans-Bud Light commercials - "Score still 21-32?" "Yeah...like your pants size!" - whenever someone asks to confirm the score of any game. "Score still 42-40 West Virginia?" Yeah...like your pants size!" Zing! Gotcha dad!
Also, I hate those Bud Light commercials, and more generally the trend in commercials centering on people being jerks to each other. Why do those hot bartenders have to hate on those poor guys?!? They're just trying to express themselves as individuals!
1:30pm - Ha! I love that Toyota commercial with the kid shooting on the garage hoop! His game is just like my game; he looks like he can do everything but get the ball in the net. Also, I drive an '09 Camry! Meanwhile, West Virginia just took its first lead of the game and for some reason my dad is pulling for the Mountaineers! It's a bad situation.
12:32 pm - I'm not saying it's likely, but there is about a 10-15% chance Bobby Huggins misunderstood the play-in games and game-planned for VCU. Of course, the more likely explanation for West Virginia's early struggles is that they are terrible.
10:32 am - It's tough to stay on top of all of the relevant college basketball news in the three and a half days between Bracket Day and Day 1. You probably know about Kyrie Irving and Chris Wright coming back. You know that Brandon Davies and DJ Kennedy are out for the tournament. Here a couple more notent notables, just in case you waited until the last possible minute to fill out your bracket:
- K-State's Beard is sick!
- Purdue's 6th man Kelsey Barlow was suspended for the remainder of the season Tuesday. And I was just about to fill out bracket with the Boilermakers winning it all! There goes my dark horse...
- Clemson had a quick turnaround after their "First Four" game. Oh man! That crap West Virginia team might scrape through to the weekend?
10:07 am - As someone who's run a few pools in his day (none since I work for Syracuse...don't worry Nancy!), I know how nice it is when people take the time to write out the full names of teams rather than take the short cut with potentially confusing acronyms or abbreviations. There's nothing more confusing and less elegant then seeing a bracket have KU beating UL and Pur en route to the Final Four. There are exceptions to the rule, however. Feel free to shorten "State" to "St" for example. If a team is listed on your bracket by its acronym, feel free to use it throughout. UAB, LIU, UNLV, USC, VCU, BYU and of course UCLA. Also, the following abbreviations are perfectly acceptable: UNC, Tenn (who can remember how many S's there are in Tennesssseee?), Cincy, UConn, SD St, Vandy, ODU, and Pitt. That is all.
9:10 am - I'm giddy! Polishing off a bunch of brackets at Starbucks. While you're waiting for the games to start, I thought this was pretty hilarious, other than the Orange metaphor. (Also, if you think it's crazy that Villanova finished 5-15...you're right. They finished with 5 wins in their final 15 games, or 5-10.)
2:00 am - Last night's post, ranking the teams from 1 to 64. If you liked my Big East tournament predictions, you'll love these picks! (Geheyeheyeheyehey... [Grabbing collar])
posted by Prof. A at 8:08 AM
2 Comments:
You forgot UConn....who wants to write out Connecticut the whole way???
You're right. You're absolutely right. I'm correcting it now.
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