Tournament Thoughts: First Round Friday

I am never disappointed with the NCAA tournament but this was the most underwhelming first round I can remember in years. No upsets of a top 4 seed, and only 1 12 seed won, and they were actually favored.

And the big teams that won for the most part weren't even challenged. North Carolina won by 39, Kansas by 38, Duke by 22. And the two teams that were "challenged" were UCLA and Kentucky and they still won by 17 & 9. And Kentucky's win wasn't even that close.

Hopefully, the better teams advancing means more good games in the later rounds.

And it wasn't just the top seeds, the close matchups, didn't yield any super-exciting games, none went to overtime. For the second straight day, one of the most exciting finishes was marred by bad play.

Seton Hall had so many unfortunate things happen in the final 40 seconds, the culmination of which was a questionable call, but they lost more because of their own mistakes than those of the officials.

Here's why: they led by 8 with 6 minutes left, they led by 8 with 9 minutes left. They had the lead and the ball with 80 seconds left. Then they turned it over, and allowed the go-ahead layup. They had the ball again, and turned it over on a travel. So that's two turnovers in 1 minute with the game on the line, before the officials got involved.

And then, the call happened. Seton Hall had to give a foul, trailing by 1 with the shot clock off. Desi Rodriguez tried to foul but instead he put two hands on the back of Barford and their feet got tangled simultaneously. By the letter of the law, this should have been ruled a flagrant, a clear push with no attempt to play the ball. By the spirit, no foul, it's late in the game, teams need to foul, contact wasn't excessive.

Look at it from the other side. Imagine you're Arkansas. A guy does exactly what is written in the rule book as a flagrant foul, but they give him leeway based on discretion, and you somehow lose. Wouldn't Arkansas have a much bigger case to freak out? You can't tailor the rules to the situation.

And for Seton Hall, the most likely case is ball back, down 3, 20 seconds. Not great odds. Which is why Seton Hall blew this game before the referee's call was made.

If Marquette's Andrew Rousey went on Jim Rome's show, would he call him "Ronda?"

Every time the announcers talked about Cincinnati's Troy Caupain, it sounded like they were saying cocaine.

Similarly I thought Kevin Harlan had a Freudian slip when excitedly referring to Baylor's Manu Lecomte. "Look at le cunt!"

On to round 2, hoping for some better games!

Tournament Thoughts: First Round Thursday

Sickening end to Vanderbilt vs. Northwestern. Matthew Fisher-Davis will not quite join Chris Webber, due to enormity of the situation, but certainly his blatant foul with 25 seconds left and his team LEADING by 1, will go down as one of the most boneheaded moves in tournament history.

No big upsets today. You can't really consider Middle Tennessee an upset since they were favored, and Xavier was only 2-point dogs, not exactly Cinderella stuff. All the 4 seeds won their opening round games. That's the third time that's happened in the past 4 years.

My biggest regret of the first round is that Albany lost their conference final to Vermont, and I don't get to put Dallas Ennema on my all-name team.

But at least we have Bacon.

The first member of Mrs. Poop's All-Hair team is Justin Tillman from VCU.

And his teammate Jonathan Williams would be there if Mrs. Poop liked beards.

For fundamentals no one beats Florida's Canyon Barry who shoots free throws underhand, as his father Rick used to do. Oh, and Barry set the Florida record for most consecutive free throws. For the record, Rick had sons Scooter, Brent & Jon with his first wife, Canyon is from wife #3, Rick must have been about 50 when Canyon was born.

Underhanded free throws are something Florida-Gulf Coast's Demetris Morant might want to consider.



Arizona looked good, Nevada looked fun and maybe Wisconsin can give Villanova some trouble. That's it for a very chalky day 1. Let's see if more upsets await on Day 2.

Song of the Week

"Something Like This" - The Chainsmokers & Coldplay

No One To Blame But Themselves

The Syracuse Orange will be watching the NCAA Tournament for the second time in 3 years (not the way Jim Boeheim wanted to spend his latter years, but that's another post for another time).
The Orange were squarely on the bubble with an 18-14 record. Working against them, 4 horrible losses (St John's, Georgetown, UConn and Boston College), a poor road record (2-11) and a miserable RPI (80-something), which would have been the worst RPI to ever get an at-large berth, breaking the record they set last year.
But working in their favor, Syracuse finished 10-8 in the top conference, won 6 games against the RPI top 50 and was a completely different team that they were in November and December.
But when you lose 14 games, and blow several chances at a statement win, or even an easy clinching win, and don't get it, you really can't blame the committee.
Every team ahead of the Orange has pros and cons when rated head-to-head.
My only issue is with what seems to me to be some inconsistency in the criteria from year-to-year. It seems like last year SU was rewarded for big wins, this year those didn't matter as much. Perhaps the committee didn't want to keep stretching their criteria for the same team, and certainly it didn't seem like last year's Final Four run mattered at all.
But at least I have the Virginia game saved on my DVR.

Daniel Was The Real Bully

I have seen "The Karate Kid" many times, and like you, I always hate sympathy for Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio) because I thought he was harassed, bullied and physically assaulted by the evil Johnny (Billy Zabka).
Turns out I had incredibly misinterpreted what really went on:



And they didn't even mention that Daniel kicked Johnny in the face, in clear violation of the rules of the tournament.

If you like looking differently at movies you thought you knew, check out this trailer for the Shining.

Which is Better: New York City or Greensboro

A leader who is often surly, nasty, dismissive and vindictive towards the media. He often picks fights with the media, especially over petty issues. And he mocks anyone who questions him.

Yes, I am talking about Jim Boeheim.

After his team lost in the ACC tournament he explained why he thinks the tournament should be in held in big cities every year.



The city of Greensboro responded with a snarky tweet:

Now personally, I believe representatives for a city should behave with a little more civility, but I understand that this is the culture of our youth, especially on Twitter, and you don't get attention if you don't "clap back" or retweet.

But in Boeheim's defense, he was asked the question. And it seems like someone followed up asking specifically about Greensboro. Sure he didn't have to answer so rudely. He made fair points which would have been better received had he not doused them with jerkiness.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers, a single A affiliate of the Miami Marlins will host "Jim Boeheim (No) Value Night" on April 11.

All fans with a valid Syracuse, NY Driver's License will be given a free ticket, $20 in food and beverage vouchers, and a pre-game meet and greet with retired Hall of Fame Bat Dog, Miss Babe Ruth.

"Contrary to what Jim Boeheim thinks, Greensboro is a great place and we want to show off our city, our ballpark and our southern hospitality to our friends from Syracuse. We know that not all of them are whiners and grouches like their basketball coach," said Grasshoppers Team President and General Manager Donald Moore.

Boeheim will be honored during the "Whine of the Game" that night sponsored by Carolina Pediatrics of the Triad. "We may invite the coach to attend, although his presence will bring us no value, none," Moore continued. "I suspect he may already have plans to be at a game in New York, Washington, or Atlanta that evening and unable to come."

Song of the Week

"Lush Life" - Zara Larsson

Their Mothers Were So Proud

The good boychicks on the World Baseball Classic teams representing Israel had us all kvelling after they removed their caps for Hatikvah and put on kippot.

They also won their first 2 games, against South Korea and Taipei, making it very likely they will advance to the second round of pool play.



Readers of this blog will be most familiar with current Met Ty Kelly and former Met Ike Davis. Staten Island's own Jason Marquis is the ace of the pitching staff.

Song of the Week

"Animal" - Miike Snow
The only thing I don't like about this song is that apparently the correct spelling of the artist's name includes two Is.

Good Thing Pat Garrity Isn't So Thin-Skinned

Rick Pitino had to be restrained from going after a fan at halftime of Louisville's game against North Carolina.



Apparently the fan said "hey Pitino, you suck." What angered Pitino so much was that the fan was an older gentleman, not a student.
How foolish of security to eject the guy, and escort him in the same direction Pitino was walking.

When I was in college Notre Dame's Pat Garrity lined up for a free throw. A hush came over the crowd. And I yelled "I fuckin hate you Garrity."
Good thing I wasn't ejected.

Cardiac Cuse

The latest in a long line of heroic last second shots for Syracuse this season came from John Gillon nailing a 3-pointer off the glass to beat Duke 78-75.



It's always exciting to beat Duke. It's always exciting to win on a last-second shot. When both happen and the game is nearly essential for your tournament hopes, then it's even better.

And the Gillon shot joins a long list of buzzer beaters and game winning shots.

Best Post-Fight Interview Ever

Derrick Lewis delivered the best post-fight interview after his fight vs Travis Browne.
Lewis seemed to be seriously hurt by a body blow in the first round, and was holding his stomach in pain. But he came back in the second and knocked out Browne, leading to this interview with Brian Stann.



"I just gotta do number 2. It's not really hurt from the kicks, I gotta booboo."
"all the training and all the sex I been getting..."

And this clip edited out Lewis bringing up some old domestic violence accusations against Browne, punctuated with "where Ronda Rousey's fine ass at?" Browne is dating Ronda Rousey.

Song of the Week

"I'll Do Anything" - Denroy Morgan
"Do do do do do, do do do do do, do do do do do, do anything"
16 straight dos, beat that with a stick.

I'd Rather Have the Donuts

A woman hits a half-court shot at a Siena Saints basketball game, as part of a promotion for Dunkin Donuts. She won a $500 DD gift card, which would last Master Bates about a week and a half.
But look what happened next.



Her boyfriend set the whole thing up, and after her miracle shot he took off the coffee cup costume and proposed to her.
Pretty good night, $500 worth of a donuts and a diamond ring.



Note: don't be a douche and vote with the mentality of I'd sell the diamond ring and get $5000 worth of donuts. So there!"

Strange Last Words

A man in Oakland, California went on a bizarre rampage, terrorizing his neighbors with a rifle, before being taken out by a police sniper.
The craziest part of his bizarre final moments, an act of vandalism on his neighbors' property.

He drew boobies on the garage door and a penis on the car hood.
Way to go out in a blaze of glory.

Here Lies Personal Responsibilty

Jane Park, 21, of the UK, had planned to sue lottery organizers claiming her life was ruined after she won a million pounds in the EuroMillions when she was only 17.
Her claim was that someone that young could not handle the money and the lottery should increase the minimum age to 18.
She wasted her fortunate on cars clothes and plastic surgery. Plastic surgery, you don't say.

Park has since dropped her suit and said it was her plan all along. She says if she had merely suggested the age increase no one would have listened, but her lawsuit gained attention, which could initiate the change and perhaps save young people in the future from making the same mistakes. And presumably, blaming those mistakes on someone else.

Song of the Week

"Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye
This is for all you lovers out there.

Safety First

UCLA's big win over Oregon this week was marred by a scary incident involving a cheerleader. She fell, dragging the whole pyramid down, landed on her back and may have hit her head. Assistance came swiftly and she was carried off the court.



Only problem, the dude carrying her stepped on a bag or some kind of cloth item left carelessly by the court, and he slipped, causing her to fall for the second time.

Sophie did eventually return to the court and is doing fine.

Bill Walton's comment only makes it that much funnier.

I'm With Oakley

When Master Bates texted me to tell me that Charles Oakley had been ejected from Madison Square Garden and arrested, I thought he was messing with me. I thought Nails (who frequently tells me my favorite players have been traded, killed or photographed in bed with hookers) had put him up to it.
Unfortunately, it was another sad chapter in the sad story of the New York Knicks.

We will never know what truly happened, because there are such differing accounts, but clearly this went back a while, and rightly or wrongly security would keep an eye on Charles Oakley whenever he entered the Garden.

We don't know if Oakley was drunk, we don't know if he was abusive, we don't really know if Dolan ordered security to eject him.
We only know what we see on tape, which makes Oakley look pretty bad. He is physically assaulting the security personell and refusing to leave.

As the headline indicates, I am with Oakley on this one, but when you are in a private place, and security in charge asks you to leave, you have to leave. That's the law, and the decent thing to do.
Oakley resisted, which led to the ugly incident and his arrest.

But that's only one night. As a Knicks fan who has been subjected to years of mismanagement of the team by James Dolan, if anyone has to be banned from the arena for life it should be Dolan.

What Do You Give Me For? Carson Wentz and Prince Harry

This one comes from the mind of Julian who asked why Carson Wentz was on the cover of daddy's magazine and mommy's magazine.