| Today (Thursday) the First Round action started
in an absolute basketball orgy, with so many games going on at once only
a madman would attempt to watch at least parts of each and every one,
right?
Probably. And yet despite that fact (or in support of it, depending
on your view), that's precisely what I set out to do.
That's one of the beautiful things about the weird hours I work -- due
to nearly killing myself with hours I worked in the last week and a half,
as it worked out I get today and tomorrw (Friday) off. However, I will
be on the road tomorrow, and thus I made a point to indulge my college hoops
obsession today while upsets are still mere gleams in the eyes of small-time
schools.
Thursday, 2:25PM
The first games are beginning to come to a close. St. Bonaventure
has taken the #5 Seed Kentucky Wildcats to Overtime. The Bonnies
have played well and actually controlled the game for a good portion with
as much as a commanding 10-point lead. Meanwhile Auburn
just barely survived Creighton, making me rather nervous for picking
Auburn to advance as far as I did even without Porter. The actual insanity,
craziness, and mayhem has begun as the first games wind down...
2:40PM
St. Bonaventure, down by 3 with 0.4 seconds to go in OT, gets fouled
by Kentucky on a 3-point shot, and makes all 3 free throws, to send
the game into Double Overtime as CBS's Kevin Harlan exclaims "Welcome to
the NCAA Tournament, everyone!". And for once, I have to agree with
him. Kentucky is in serious trouble though -- they have only dressed
9 players for the game and are running out of players due to foul trouble.
2:55PM
Kentucky survives to beat St. Bonaventure 84-80 in Double OT.
Rather disappointing since the Bonnies put up such a fight and probably
deserved to win, but so goes the NCAA Tournament. It's do or die...
Also much to my dismay, Oklahoma has downed Winthrop,
but not in very convincing fashion considering that Winthrop couldn't hit
a shot -- in fact just as I predicted Eduardo Najera has so far proved
to be a non-factor, and I still can't see the Sooners going anywhere in the
tournament. Texas also dropped the Sycamores of Indiana St.
in one of the other few convincing wins of the day so far.
3:10PM
Purdue and Dayton have just tipped off, and Syracuse tips
off against Samford at 3:23. What kind of morons schedule a
tip-off time for 3:23PM on the dot? Not 3:20.... 3:23. What,
the 3 minutes make that much difference? Yet more proof the NCAA is
comprised of idiots who don't have their priorities straight
3:15PM
The Purdue/Dayton game has barely started and CBS has already had
like 3 commercial breaks. What a joke. At least Beast Wars
is on FOX right now to watch during commercial breaks.
3:25PM
ARGH!!!! The all-too-painful realization that all local internet access
is down due to phone and fiber-optics problems in Lansing has just hit --
I can't get online and get real-time updates for every game. Apparently
Ameritech has killed all phone service in the 517 area code after a
bnig screw-up on their part. I wish Dark Things<TM> upon Ameritech
for doing this to me. The nerve.
4:58PM
Special thanks again to Ameritech for setting technology back at least several
decades on one of the most important days in all of internet sports.
Morons. (Anyone else ever notice how when something goes wrong with
telephones it's always Ameritech's fault?) The end result is I've only
been able to track the Purdue/Dayton game locally on TV, although
it has been a doozy of a good one. LSU also just defeated SE
Missouri St. by 3.
5:10PM
Purdue ekes out a 2-point against Dayton. With under
4 seconds left in the game, after Purdue Brian Cardinal misses
the front-end of a 1-and-1, a Dayton player opts to selfishly take an
off-balance, running, near mid-court 3-point shot that doesn't even come
close to making it, instead of dishing it off to his right where a teammate
is set for a wide-open three. Sounds like a decision Ameritech
would make. This day is starting to get ugly...
5:25PM
Elsewhere Syracuse has dumped Samford, and Iowa St
dropped Central Connecticutt St. Thus an interesting trend
has developed at the halfway point of today's games. Almost every one
of the games have been good games and competitive, but there haven't been
any upsets yet. Too bad -- upsets are what the tourney thrives on.
However, upsets are still possible, as we have 8 games to go yet before
the day is over. And Ameritech still sucks.
5:45PM
After quickly gulping down supper I turn to ESPN to watch analysis of the
games completed, and the games yet to come. The local evening news
just is lame in comparison. I begin to feel genuinely sorry for ESPN's
Chris Fowler -- not only does he have to put up with Digger Phelps' know-it-all
dialogue, but also the just-morally-wrong enthusiasm and chatter of Dick
Vitale. But at least I can respect Vitale, because his enthusiams is
genuine. I just wish Phelps would go away. Soon. Yeesh,
why do they have to take a break until 7:30PM to get the next set of games
underway?!
7:00PM
Maybe the break isn't so bad after all. I was able to sneak in
a quick haircut that I needed along with some other stuff. Ahhhh,
yeessss... now the second half of the slate of games can go on undisturbed.
The way it SHOULD be.
8:15PM
#1 Michigan State has opened its game against #16 Valparaiso with
an 18-3 lead. The Louisville/Gonzaga game is also shaping up to be
a good one. In the meantime the much-hyped Iona/Maryland game
is a 20-4 blowout thus far. #16 Jackson St. is tyed with #1
Arizona in a 15-15 tie as well. All this plus I'm also trying to
watch the Detroit Red Wings/Toronto Maple Leafs NHL matchup on ESPN2 (hey
life isn't just basketball -- it's hockey too). Why does everything
cool have to be on all simultaneously?...
8:35PM
If there ever was a lower seed that was a favorite in a game, it would have
to be #10 Gonzaga taking on #7 Louisville. And true to
form, Gonzaga is giving the Cardinals all they wanted and then some at the
half. Which beckons the question: Because Gonzaga is favored even though
they are a lower seed, what if there are no other upsets? "Could the
first day of the tourney really end up being this predictable and uneventful?..."
Doesn't matter anyways, as Ameritech still has the upset of the day
-- as in they upset me greatly. At least they finally restored internet
access again.
CBS
SportsLine.com here I come...
9:30PM
Thoroughly engrossed by the MSU/Valpo game (and by the fact that Mike
Chapell has found his shot), I forget that the Red Wings are still on ESPN2.
In fact, I forget I'm even downloading an MP3 from Napster all this
time and it had died mid-transfer. In the meantime Gonzaga is
picking apart Lousville late in the 2nd Half. Things might be
getting interesting. Now where did I put that food I just went and
got?..
9:35PM
MP3 transfer is still dead, and somehow I'm going to blame Ameritech for
this. Every time I find this MP3 somewhere something keeps me from
getting it all. Valpo can hardly blame Ameritech for getting
dumped 65-38 by Michigan St. though. After the MSU/Valpo game I get
to see the final 3 minutes of Gonzaga/Louisville, which is infinitely
more of a game than the one I just finished watching.
9:50PM
Make no mistake about it, it's obvious the Zags of Gonzaga aren't
in the tourney to screw around, and they drop Lousville 77-66.
Ouch. Though it's hardly an upset. In Minneapolis, Maryland
is beats overmatched Iona 74-59. Why anyone thought this would be
a better game is beyond me. Probably propaganda spread by evil Ameritech.
10:05PM
Wisconsin tips off against Fresno St. and I'm a happy man --
the final slate of games is starting to get underway.
10:25PM
I flip over to watch the Red Wings blow a 3-2 lead with less than 20
seconds to go in the third period, and go on to lose in OT. Ugh. In
the meantime the Fresno St./Wisconsin game is exactly as good a matchup
as I'd predicted. Even though Duany Duany is still just a ridiculous
name.
10:45PM
In case you hadn't noticed yet, my thoughts have been wandering away from
normal "sane" things in the last couple of writings above. You watch
10 solid hours of basketball and see how thought-provoking you are with the
things that come out of your head. I cal it the Ameritech
Effect<TM>. There are other games going on but I'm beginning
to have difficulty keeping them straight. Although St. Louis
was just beating Utah at last check, it could hardly be considered
an upset for a #9 to beat a #8...
11:30PM
What did I say? I said you can't take Ball St. lightly, and
UCLA is finding out as they are barely beating Ball St. 32-31 right
now. In the meantime Wisconsin just ripped off a 26-4 run against
Fresno St. There isn't a word in the English language to describe
that kind of pain. I note that today has still been rather uneventful
in terms of past days -- the upsets just haven't happened and I'm starting
to get angry about it... oh no wait, maybe it's just Ameritech...
Friday, 12:10AM
The Tourney suspense is alive!! Even though Utah edged St.
Louis, St. John's edged Northern Arizona, and Wisconsin
downed Fresno St., they were all good games. Also Arizona
won, and UCLA unfortunately dumped Ball
St. Which isn't much consolation to those of us hungering
an upset but... there's stil the second half of games all tomorrow. Who
knows. Because tomorrow is another day. And 16 more games...
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