One of the big stories in these parts last week was Barack Obama's visit to KU. ... KU will always hold a special place in my heart for many reasons, I loved watching this today.
Showing posts with label Kansas Jayhawks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas Jayhawks. Show all posts
1.29.2015
8.29.2014
Awesome of the week
Some fairly awesome things I caught on the internet this week ...
Hello Kitty Is Not A Cat Because Nothing Makes Sense Anymore ... Phoebe is going to be crushed.
I missed the Emmys Monday night, but Billy Crystal's Robin Williams tribute had people buzzing the next morning. Rightly so. ...
Ever wonder how a basketball court gets painted? Or in this case, a legendary basketball court gets repainted? Check out this fascinating slideshow showing painters working on the Kansas Jayhawks' court at Allen Fieldhouse.
And finally some "Friends."
Here's an amusing video featuring Maggie Wheeler explaining how she came up with Janice's distinct voice. ...
And here's Jimmy Kimmel trying to live out his dream of being a "Friends" cast member ...
Hello Kitty Is Not A Cat Because Nothing Makes Sense Anymore ... Phoebe is going to be crushed.
* * *
I missed the Emmys Monday night, but Billy Crystal's Robin Williams tribute had people buzzing the next morning. Rightly so. ...
* * *
Ever wonder how a basketball court gets painted? Or in this case, a legendary basketball court gets repainted? Check out this fascinating slideshow showing painters working on the Kansas Jayhawks' court at Allen Fieldhouse.
* * *
And finally some "Friends."
Here's an amusing video featuring Maggie Wheeler explaining how she came up with Janice's distinct voice. ...
...
And here's Jimmy Kimmel trying to live out his dream of being a "Friends" cast member ...
3.24.2013
March Madness
So I’m officially on Spring Break.
It sure doesn’t feel like it, though. At about 5 o’clock last night, the snow storm weather forecasters had been talking about for days actually arrived. … And it’s still snowing.
This is the scene in our back yard this morning …
And this is Phoebe’s baseball tee. She got it out last weekend and was playing with it while it was 70 degrees and sunny. This morning, it’s buried in white stuff.
We might as well get out the Christmas decorations.
On one hand, I guess it’s a good timing. Most of my Spring Break week will be spent buried in graduate work, finishing my research project and compiling my portfolio. I have less than a month to go.
So the snow is good because it will deter me from wishing I could be doing things outside. And we desperately need the precipitation.
But it's bringing a whole new meaning to March Madness.
Confession time.
With all the chaos in our lives during these winter months, I’m as clueless about college basketball as I’ve felt in a long time.
Then again, maybe I’m being too hard on myself. After all, I’m aware enough to know there hasn’t been a consistently dominant team this year. I’m also aware enough to know that Louisville, Indiana, Miami and Kansas have been among the best.
Nonetheless, I filled out my bracket with pure guesses Thursday morning – usually I do at least a little research – and went on with my work day. Usually I follow the early games through score alerts and social media, too, but when I left my office around 5:30 Thursday evening, I knew nothing about the outcomes of the afternoon games. Later, we attended Phoebe’s spring concert – she was great, by the way, and sang all of her songs with gusto – and it wasn’t until we arrived home around 7:30 that I was able to finally catch up on some of the scores and highlights.
It was during that time that I also carried on my March Madness traditions of filling out brackets for the kiddos. Building on the precedent set last year, I helped Phoebe fill out her bracket and filled one out for Faye.
Sadly, and just like last year, Phoebe’s bracket was nearly shot up during the first round (I don't count the play-in games) and officially finished off last night. As we filled out her bracket Thursday night, I read off the matchups one-by-one and she picked the teams she thought would win. My theory holds again this year that she picks her winners based on the names with which she’s familiar – or the ones that simply sound fun to her.
Therefore, she picked Wisconsin to win it all. And we all know now that’s not happening after Friday afternoon.
The rest of her Final Four consisted of Pacific, Northwestern State and Memphis. She has a friend at her preschool named Memphis.
Phoebe also picked Iona to advance to the West regional against Wisconsin (oops). And she picked Missouri to advance to the Midwest regional against Memphis (oops and oops). She picked Pittsburgh to win two games – before falling to Wisconsin – because she has a teacher named Mrs. Pitts (oops).
Phoebe, however, correctly picked Florida Gulf Coast to upset Georgetown. Amazing.
She correctly picked 12 of the first 40 games and, after just three days of play and heading into this afternoon’s games, the only teams she has left standing are Kansas and FGCU.
Faye and I are faring much better, thank you very much. Keeping with the tradition established during the magical run that was 2008 (and no, I'm still not tired of bringing that up ... ), the baby’s bracket finishes with Kansas as the national champion. Rounding out Faye’s Final Four are Michigan State, Wisconsin (doh!) and Miami. … Wisconsin was supposed to meet Kansas in the national championship game.
Faye also accurately picked No. 1-seed Louisville and No. 12-seed Oregon advancing to face each other, and she picked No. 9-seed Wichita State upsetting No. 1-seed Gonzaga.
As for my bracket, I have Kansas, Miami, Wisconsin and Louisville in my Final Four, with Louisville and Miam facing off in the championship. Seriously, I really thought Wisconsin, it seemed, had been flying under the radar for most of the season and they were going to have a better showing. One of the talking heads on ESPN – I can’t remember who now – even said as much the other day. … And for the record, I also picked the Louisville-Oregon matchup. The only other upsets – if you want to call them that – I predicted were Iowa State over Notre Dame and Wichita State over Pittsburgh.
Good reads ...
In N.C.A.A. Basketball Tournament, Field Looks Wide Open
Bubbling Up: The Downside of Being No. 1
Darlings of Yore Hear the Cheers, but Not for Them
And whaddaya know, coming up this afternoon, Kansas has a matchup with ol’ Roy Williams and North Carolina.
Bring it. … Sorry, Hitler.
It sure doesn’t feel like it, though. At about 5 o’clock last night, the snow storm weather forecasters had been talking about for days actually arrived. … And it’s still snowing.
This is the scene in our back yard this morning …
And this is Phoebe’s baseball tee. She got it out last weekend and was playing with it while it was 70 degrees and sunny. This morning, it’s buried in white stuff.
We might as well get out the Christmas decorations.
On one hand, I guess it’s a good timing. Most of my Spring Break week will be spent buried in graduate work, finishing my research project and compiling my portfolio. I have less than a month to go.
So the snow is good because it will deter me from wishing I could be doing things outside. And we desperately need the precipitation.
But it's bringing a whole new meaning to March Madness.
* * *
Confession time.
With all the chaos in our lives during these winter months, I’m as clueless about college basketball as I’ve felt in a long time.
Then again, maybe I’m being too hard on myself. After all, I’m aware enough to know there hasn’t been a consistently dominant team this year. I’m also aware enough to know that Louisville, Indiana, Miami and Kansas have been among the best.
Nonetheless, I filled out my bracket with pure guesses Thursday morning – usually I do at least a little research – and went on with my work day. Usually I follow the early games through score alerts and social media, too, but when I left my office around 5:30 Thursday evening, I knew nothing about the outcomes of the afternoon games. Later, we attended Phoebe’s spring concert – she was great, by the way, and sang all of her songs with gusto – and it wasn’t until we arrived home around 7:30 that I was able to finally catch up on some of the scores and highlights.
It was during that time that I also carried on my March Madness traditions of filling out brackets for the kiddos. Building on the precedent set last year, I helped Phoebe fill out her bracket and filled one out for Faye.
Sadly, and just like last year, Phoebe’s bracket was nearly shot up during the first round (I don't count the play-in games) and officially finished off last night. As we filled out her bracket Thursday night, I read off the matchups one-by-one and she picked the teams she thought would win. My theory holds again this year that she picks her winners based on the names with which she’s familiar – or the ones that simply sound fun to her.
Therefore, she picked Wisconsin to win it all. And we all know now that’s not happening after Friday afternoon.
The rest of her Final Four consisted of Pacific, Northwestern State and Memphis. She has a friend at her preschool named Memphis.
Phoebe also picked Iona to advance to the West regional against Wisconsin (oops). And she picked Missouri to advance to the Midwest regional against Memphis (oops and oops). She picked Pittsburgh to win two games – before falling to Wisconsin – because she has a teacher named Mrs. Pitts (oops).
Phoebe, however, correctly picked Florida Gulf Coast to upset Georgetown. Amazing.
She correctly picked 12 of the first 40 games and, after just three days of play and heading into this afternoon’s games, the only teams she has left standing are Kansas and FGCU.
Faye and I are faring much better, thank you very much. Keeping with the tradition established during the magical run that was 2008 (and no, I'm still not tired of bringing that up ... ), the baby’s bracket finishes with Kansas as the national champion. Rounding out Faye’s Final Four are Michigan State, Wisconsin (doh!) and Miami. … Wisconsin was supposed to meet Kansas in the national championship game. Faye also accurately picked No. 1-seed Louisville and No. 12-seed Oregon advancing to face each other, and she picked No. 9-seed Wichita State upsetting No. 1-seed Gonzaga.
As for my bracket, I have Kansas, Miami, Wisconsin and Louisville in my Final Four, with Louisville and Miam facing off in the championship. Seriously, I really thought Wisconsin, it seemed, had been flying under the radar for most of the season and they were going to have a better showing. One of the talking heads on ESPN – I can’t remember who now – even said as much the other day. … And for the record, I also picked the Louisville-Oregon matchup. The only other upsets – if you want to call them that – I predicted were Iowa State over Notre Dame and Wichita State over Pittsburgh.
Good reads ...
In N.C.A.A. Basketball Tournament, Field Looks Wide Open
Bubbling Up: The Downside of Being No. 1
Darlings of Yore Hear the Cheers, but Not for Them
And whaddaya know, coming up this afternoon, Kansas has a matchup with ol’ Roy Williams and North Carolina.
Bring it. … Sorry, Hitler.
4.02.2012
Not this year, Baby
Oh, Kansas.
What can I say?
I’m not the least bit a Kentucky fan. Nor am I a John Calipari fan. And I’m so sick of hearing about Anthony Davis.
Kentucky was the better team tonight.
But Kansas also missed some opportunities.
Kentucky put Kansas in a hole in the first half.
Then, the Jayhawks, like they’ve done throughout the season, turned it up a notch in the second half and clamped down on defense. They cut the lead and made it a competitive game.
But a couple missed dunks and bad passes were killers. The death knell was the travel call on Elijah Johnson as he was setting up for a three-pointer from the corner with just over three minutes left. Kansas was on an 8-0 run at that point and Johnson's three-pointer would have cut Kentucky's lead to four points.
Those Kansas miscues go the other way and the game might have had a different ending.
We all knew Kansas had to play a near-perfect game to beat Kentucky. Being down 18 points in the first half doesn’t cut it.
It was a fun game to watch. A heck of a run for Kansas. Unlike so many frustrating Kansas teams over the years, this one overachieved and put together a season of which us Jayhawks fans can be really proud. … I’m watching the Kansas City news as I write this and seeing the hordes of fans smiling and high-fiving as they crowd Mass Street says it all.
Beyond the Kansas run, when you think of all the close games, comebacks and upsets -- Lehigh over Duke, Norfolk State over Missouri -- this year’s NCAA tournament was one for the ages.
In the end, I correctly picked Kentucky as the winner in my bracket.
Although, what I really wanted was for Baby 2’s bracket to have the luck of Phoebe’s bracket in 2008. Baby 2 had Kentucky and Kansas in the national championship game with Kansas winning it all.
We came close, Baby. Maybe next year.
Good pre-game reads ...
a In title game, ground rules established
a Jayhawks refuse to lose faith while facing a deficit
a No Easy Path to the Rim for Either Tourney Finalist
a Kansas is running on Releford time
a Legacies at stake in Bill Self-John Calipari national title matchup
(Updated 04.04.2012) Good post-game reads ...
a KU can’t dig out of hole in 67-59 NCAA title game loss
a Coronation for Kentucky, and for Its Coach
a Valiant effort falls short as Kansas runs out of magic in title game
a NCAA Championship photo gallery
a Kentucky: Thanks for a memory ... Fifteen years or so down the road, after they’ve experienced the emotional bumps and bruises of both NBA and everyday life, they may come to the realization they never had more fun playing this game than they did with each other. They could have gotten more out of it.
What can I say?
I’m not the least bit a Kentucky fan. Nor am I a John Calipari fan. And I’m so sick of hearing about Anthony Davis.
Kentucky was the better team tonight.
But Kansas also missed some opportunities.
Kentucky put Kansas in a hole in the first half.
Then, the Jayhawks, like they’ve done throughout the season, turned it up a notch in the second half and clamped down on defense. They cut the lead and made it a competitive game.
But a couple missed dunks and bad passes were killers. The death knell was the travel call on Elijah Johnson as he was setting up for a three-pointer from the corner with just over three minutes left. Kansas was on an 8-0 run at that point and Johnson's three-pointer would have cut Kentucky's lead to four points.
Those Kansas miscues go the other way and the game might have had a different ending.
We all knew Kansas had to play a near-perfect game to beat Kentucky. Being down 18 points in the first half doesn’t cut it.
It was a fun game to watch. A heck of a run for Kansas. Unlike so many frustrating Kansas teams over the years, this one overachieved and put together a season of which us Jayhawks fans can be really proud. … I’m watching the Kansas City news as I write this and seeing the hordes of fans smiling and high-fiving as they crowd Mass Street says it all.
Beyond the Kansas run, when you think of all the close games, comebacks and upsets -- Lehigh over Duke, Norfolk State over Missouri -- this year’s NCAA tournament was one for the ages.
In the end, I correctly picked Kentucky as the winner in my bracket.
Although, what I really wanted was for Baby 2’s bracket to have the luck of Phoebe’s bracket in 2008. Baby 2 had Kentucky and Kansas in the national championship game with Kansas winning it all.
We came close, Baby. Maybe next year.
Good pre-game reads ...
a In title game, ground rules established
a Jayhawks refuse to lose faith while facing a deficit
a No Easy Path to the Rim for Either Tourney Finalist
a Kansas is running on Releford time
a Legacies at stake in Bill Self-John Calipari national title matchup
(Updated 04.04.2012) Good post-game reads ...
a KU can’t dig out of hole in 67-59 NCAA title game loss
a Coronation for Kentucky, and for Its Coach
a Valiant effort falls short as Kansas runs out of magic in title game
a NCAA Championship photo gallery
a Kentucky: Thanks for a memory ... Fifteen years or so down the road, after they’ve experienced the emotional bumps and bruises of both NBA and everyday life, they may come to the realization they never had more fun playing this game than they did with each other. They could have gotten more out of it.
3.31.2012
Let's get together and do it again
Today was a pretty great day.
I slept in until almost 9 this morning. The day was sunny with temperatures in the 80s.
Kates went to church in the morning to rehearse with the choir for its Palm Sunday cantata tomorrow. Phoebe played in the living room and watched the Food Network.
And I worked in the baby’s room. I did some cleanup of my paint job, washed the hardwood floor, nailed down the new quarter-round and started unpacking some of the baby items we’ve been storing in the closet.
After lunch, Kates took Phoebe to a friend’s birthday party at the bowling alley and did some grocery shopping. I headed outside to spend the afternoon in the yard.
Besides the usual mowing and trimming, my objective for the afternoon was to begin the process of moving a section of the chain-link fence that surrounds our backyard. I’m willing to put my dislike for chain-link fences aside, but a section of the fence that ran along one side of our yard has bugged me since we moved in.
We have a shed in the back corner of our yard. But the shed sat outside of the fence, at a corner of our yard that is opposite of where the fence gate was located. So when I worked in the backyard -- inside the fence -- and needed something in the shed, I had to walk the length of the yard to the gate, exit the fenced portion and then walk to the back corner of the yard to access the shed. To me, it made a whole lot more sense to have the shed inside the fenced portion.
So I got my plan approved with the city officials. Plunked down $10 for a permit. Had the utilities mark off cables and pipes. And today I dismantled the side in question, which was a cinch to do, by the way. As I find time in the next couple weeks, I’ll dig new holes for the posts and reinstall the fence about 10 feet over from its original location. Outside our shed.
While I was outside this afternoon, I came upon a little friend I scooped up for Phoebe to see.
As much as Phoebe begged for us to keep him -- and as tempting as that was -- we finally did say goodbye. After we had been inside for awhile, I looked out the window just in time to see him hopping away.
I would’ve worked in the yard until the sun set had it not been for a certain college basketball game tonight.
By the time I did come inside and turn on the TV, the Kentucky-Louisville game was in the second half and Kentucky was widening its lead. … For a little while, Louisville looked capable of pulling off the upset. But Kentucky took back control of the game and advanced to Monday night’s championship.
I hope Kansas sticks it to them Monday night. I’ve never been a Kentucky University fan, and now that John Calipari’s coaching them, I dislike them even more.
But Kansas had better learn to play in the first half, if they have any hopes of winning the national championship. … These tournament games are making my hair turn grayer by the minute.
Tonight, against Ohio State, they looked absolutely awful in the first half. They were out of control, attempting fancy passes that were landing out-of-bounds and tossing -- to quote one of the CBS analysts tonight -- "dipsy-dos" at the basket. To Ohio State’s credit, the Buckeyes were playing tight defense and a slow tempo that had the Jayhawks out of whack. Ohio State also was knocking down its shots, and Kansas was not.
Good thing for Kansas that college basketball is a game of two halves. Especially in this year’s NCAA tournament. My goodness.
I lied emotionless on the couch for the first half, preparing myself for what could have been the end.
The energizing second half had me sitting up and paying closer attention. To yet another comeback. … As Kansas closed in on the lead I let out a burst of excited laughter and shouted to Kates, “They’re doing it again!”
Then, when Kansas finally took its first lead, since leading 2-0 to start the game, a weight was lifted. But it was hardly the end. Multiple lead changes as the clock wound down kept me on edge.
During that last minute, all I could think was, Here we go again. …
I was sweating and literally sitting on the edge of my seat. Every time there was a shot, turnover or whistle I was springing off the couch, pumping my fists, clapping and pacing to the back of the living room before returning to the couch.
When Withey caught a pass in the paint, turned and tossed a shot into the basket with 27 seconds left, I let out a loud cheer and started jumping around the room, thinking he sealed the game -- only to turn around and realize the referees waved off the shot because he traveled. The basket would have put Kansas ahead by five.
Back on the couch I went to sweat it out some more. Every time Kansas took another step toward sealing the game, they followed it with a careless mistake. With 3 seconds left and Kansas ahead by three points, Tyshawn Taylor stole an Ohio State pass, drove the court and then threw the ball away. Maddening!
It left Ohio State with time to do something as Aaron Craft went to the foul line.
Finally, the Jayhawks got the break they needed when Craft made his first shot and then drew a whistle on his second for racing into the lane in an attempt to rebound the shot, which he missed on purpose.
Before any of the Ohio State players could figure out what happened, Kansas inbounded the ball and the game was over.
Jayhawks fans across the land breathed another sigh of relief and rejoiced.
At one point in the second half, I noticed my TweetDeck was eerliy quiet, which I took to mean that people were paying so much attention to the game.
But when the game ended, Twitter and Facebook blew up. Here’s a sampling of some of my favorite posts …
… Tonight I’m going to bed a happy man.
Meanwhile, in Manhattan. ... What a saga this Frank Martin thing has turned out to be, after he emphatically denied during one of the tournament games last weekend that the news of him moving to South Carolina was totally untrue. The Star's Sam Mellinger had a good take on it this week.
Good reads ...
a Kansas Tops Ohio State in Tense Stretch Run
a Bill Self's good point about the "easy" job he's had this year
a Davidson loss was a turning point for KU
a Withey’s volleyball background was a building block
a Sullinger, Robinson truly the elite in matchup of Ohio State and Kansas
a The Onion: Exhaustive Investigation By Broadcasters Finds Every Player In NCAA Tournament Just A Great Kid
I slept in until almost 9 this morning. The day was sunny with temperatures in the 80s.
Kates went to church in the morning to rehearse with the choir for its Palm Sunday cantata tomorrow. Phoebe played in the living room and watched the Food Network.
And I worked in the baby’s room. I did some cleanup of my paint job, washed the hardwood floor, nailed down the new quarter-round and started unpacking some of the baby items we’ve been storing in the closet.
After lunch, Kates took Phoebe to a friend’s birthday party at the bowling alley and did some grocery shopping. I headed outside to spend the afternoon in the yard.
Besides the usual mowing and trimming, my objective for the afternoon was to begin the process of moving a section of the chain-link fence that surrounds our backyard. I’m willing to put my dislike for chain-link fences aside, but a section of the fence that ran along one side of our yard has bugged me since we moved in.
We have a shed in the back corner of our yard. But the shed sat outside of the fence, at a corner of our yard that is opposite of where the fence gate was located. So when I worked in the backyard -- inside the fence -- and needed something in the shed, I had to walk the length of the yard to the gate, exit the fenced portion and then walk to the back corner of the yard to access the shed. To me, it made a whole lot more sense to have the shed inside the fenced portion.
So I got my plan approved with the city officials. Plunked down $10 for a permit. Had the utilities mark off cables and pipes. And today I dismantled the side in question, which was a cinch to do, by the way. As I find time in the next couple weeks, I’ll dig new holes for the posts and reinstall the fence about 10 feet over from its original location. Outside our shed.
* * *
While I was outside this afternoon, I came upon a little friend I scooped up for Phoebe to see.
Phoebe, of course, was enthralled and we had a good time petting the little bunny. He, or she -- we never did figure that part out -- stayed with us in the yard for much of the afternoon.
As much as Phoebe begged for us to keep him -- and as tempting as that was -- we finally did say goodbye. After we had been inside for awhile, I looked out the window just in time to see him hopping away.
* * *
I would’ve worked in the yard until the sun set had it not been for a certain college basketball game tonight.
By the time I did come inside and turn on the TV, the Kentucky-Louisville game was in the second half and Kentucky was widening its lead. … For a little while, Louisville looked capable of pulling off the upset. But Kentucky took back control of the game and advanced to Monday night’s championship.
I hope Kansas sticks it to them Monday night. I’ve never been a Kentucky University fan, and now that John Calipari’s coaching them, I dislike them even more.
But Kansas had better learn to play in the first half, if they have any hopes of winning the national championship. … These tournament games are making my hair turn grayer by the minute.
Tonight, against Ohio State, they looked absolutely awful in the first half. They were out of control, attempting fancy passes that were landing out-of-bounds and tossing -- to quote one of the CBS analysts tonight -- "dipsy-dos" at the basket. To Ohio State’s credit, the Buckeyes were playing tight defense and a slow tempo that had the Jayhawks out of whack. Ohio State also was knocking down its shots, and Kansas was not.
Good thing for Kansas that college basketball is a game of two halves. Especially in this year’s NCAA tournament. My goodness.
I lied emotionless on the couch for the first half, preparing myself for what could have been the end.
Kansas was on the ropes at halftime Saturday against Ohio State. With the Jayhawks' chances of playing for their second national championship in five years hanging in the balance, they turned the screws defensively and sped past the Buckeyes 64-62 and into Monday's final.
Trailing by 13 points late in the first half and nine at intermission, Kansas (32-6) held OSU to eight second-half field goals on 33 attempts. (USA Today)
The energizing second half had me sitting up and paying closer attention. To yet another comeback. … As Kansas closed in on the lead I let out a burst of excited laughter and shouted to Kates, “They’re doing it again!”
Then, when Kansas finally took its first lead, since leading 2-0 to start the game, a weight was lifted. But it was hardly the end. Multiple lead changes as the clock wound down kept me on edge.
During that last minute, all I could think was, Here we go again. …
I was sweating and literally sitting on the edge of my seat. Every time there was a shot, turnover or whistle I was springing off the couch, pumping my fists, clapping and pacing to the back of the living room before returning to the couch.
When Withey caught a pass in the paint, turned and tossed a shot into the basket with 27 seconds left, I let out a loud cheer and started jumping around the room, thinking he sealed the game -- only to turn around and realize the referees waved off the shot because he traveled. The basket would have put Kansas ahead by five.
Back on the couch I went to sweat it out some more. Every time Kansas took another step toward sealing the game, they followed it with a careless mistake. With 3 seconds left and Kansas ahead by three points, Tyshawn Taylor stole an Ohio State pass, drove the court and then threw the ball away. Maddening!
It left Ohio State with time to do something as Aaron Craft went to the foul line.
Finally, the Jayhawks got the break they needed when Craft made his first shot and then drew a whistle on his second for racing into the lane in an attempt to rebound the shot, which he missed on purpose.
Before any of the Ohio State players could figure out what happened, Kansas inbounded the ball and the game was over.
Jayhawks fans across the land breathed another sigh of relief and rejoiced.
At one point in the second half, I noticed my TweetDeck was eerliy quiet, which I took to mean that people were paying so much attention to the game.
But when the game ended, Twitter and Facebook blew up. Here’s a sampling of some of my favorite posts …
YYYEEEESSSSS!! Holy mother of Xanax we WON!!!
Who can watch NEWS after a game like that, Greg Gumbel!? Anyone with a pulse should be rewatching that second half. #Kansas
HOW do they keep DOING that?!
Boom. Kansas.
I think my heart beat is back to normal now.
Not bad for a rebuilding year!
Bill Self really needs to start giving his half time speeches at the beginning of the game...
I love having the opportunity to hit "like" on so many of my friends' status updates! Rock Chalk!
Thanks to Charles Barkley and Bill Walton for continuing to pick against KU, I'm counting on you again monday!
Thinks it's funny that I have so many KU fans from so many different eras of my life. Must be good people.
Oh man. no crappy first half Monday night jayhawks! Let's do this!
… Tonight I’m going to bed a happy man.
Meanwhile, in Manhattan. ... What a saga this Frank Martin thing has turned out to be, after he emphatically denied during one of the tournament games last weekend that the news of him moving to South Carolina was totally untrue. The Star's Sam Mellinger had a good take on it this week.
Good reads ...
a Kansas Tops Ohio State in Tense Stretch Run
a Bill Self's good point about the "easy" job he's had this year
a Davidson loss was a turning point for KU
a Withey’s volleyball background was a building block
a Sullinger, Robinson truly the elite in matchup of Ohio State and Kansas
a The Onion: Exhaustive Investigation By Broadcasters Finds Every Player In NCAA Tournament Just A Great Kid
3.25.2012
Final Four. Jayhawks. It's happening, Baby.
This year's ride with the Jayhawks just gets better and better.
I was parked on the couch at 4 this afternoon for the Kansas-North Carolina, and nothing else mattered for two hours.
Against Purdue, it was Elijah Johnson. Friday night, it was Jeff Withey to the rescue. And today, Tyshawn Taylor finally showed up to play.
Welcome to the NCAA tournament, Tyshawn, tweeted Seth Davis at one point after Taylor hit a big shot for the Jayhawks.
Given Kansas' recent success against the Tar Heels and their former leader Roy Williams, I was fairly confident going into the game ...
And I'll say this to all the people who might blame North Carolina's loss on Kendall Marshall, who didn't play because of the injury he suffered earlier in the tournament: I believe, no matter the sport, that teams earn championships by not only playing well but by staying healthy. By overcoming adversity. The stars must align. North Carolina's star point guard broke his wrist and the Tar Heels' game arguably suffered. Bottom line: Kansas was the better team today.
Still, that's not to say this game wasn't a stomach-churner like those of the last week. There were 13 lead changes and 15 ties before Kansas finally put the squeeze on North Carolina.
My heart was racing and my mouth went dry for that last minute-and-a-half.
My friend Wren tweeted ...
To which I tweeted back hastily ...
Finally, it ended. With a KU win.
Kates was away at a church choir rehearsal, and Phoebe had been playing in her downstairs play room for most of the game. ... But she understands my love for the Jayhawks and joined me on the couch for the final minute or so.
As the clock ran down, I stood up in front of the TV and began clapping and cheering. Phoebe joined me and for several seconds we danced around the living room together singing KU's praises. With similar emotions to that epic night of the 2008 national championship -- the baby who was already pulling so heavily on my heart that night, and now a KU-winning bracket for the child on the way -- I caught myself in the moment with my eyes welling up a bit.
Not long afterward, Kates arrived home to Phoebe and I now resting on the couch. Kates looked at me wide-eyed and asked "Did they?!"
"They did. Jayhawks in the Final Four, Baby!" I said with my arms outstretched over my head.
(Updated: 03.26.2012) Good reads ...
a KU returns to its identity as it reaches Final Four
a Self has shaped the Jayhawks into muscle
a First Look at the Final Four
a Postgame Interviews, Some Net Cutting and a Sweet Homecoming
On top of the Kansas win, the only thing that would have made a better cap to my spring break week would have been watching tonight's “Mad Man” Season 5 premiere.
Unfortunately, Kates and I lost track of the show during Season 4 when our TV blew up, and we're still working to get caught up. Distractions like graduate school and baby preparation have made it a little more difficult than we’d like.
I was parked on the couch at 4 this afternoon for the Kansas-North Carolina, and nothing else mattered for two hours.
Against Purdue, it was Elijah Johnson. Friday night, it was Jeff Withey to the rescue. And today, Tyshawn Taylor finally showed up to play.
Welcome to the NCAA tournament, Tyshawn, tweeted Seth Davis at one point after Taylor hit a big shot for the Jayhawks.
Given Kansas' recent success against the Tar Heels and their former leader Roy Williams, I was fairly confident going into the game ...
And I'll say this to all the people who might blame North Carolina's loss on Kendall Marshall, who didn't play because of the injury he suffered earlier in the tournament: I believe, no matter the sport, that teams earn championships by not only playing well but by staying healthy. By overcoming adversity. The stars must align. North Carolina's star point guard broke his wrist and the Tar Heels' game arguably suffered. Bottom line: Kansas was the better team today.
Still, that's not to say this game wasn't a stomach-churner like those of the last week. There were 13 lead changes and 15 ties before Kansas finally put the squeeze on North Carolina.
My heart was racing and my mouth went dry for that last minute-and-a-half.
My friend Wren tweeted ...
What an unbelievable game! I don't want it to end.
To which I tweeted back hastily ...
I want it to end -- with a KU win!
Finally, it ended. With a KU win.
In a fast-paced Midwest Region final that was tight throughout, Kansas scored the last 12 points to win, 80-67, at the Edward Jones Dome. The top-seeded Tar Heels collapsed down the stretch, missing their final nine shots and 14 of 16 in the face of a Kansas triangle-and-two defense ... (The New York Times)
Kates was away at a church choir rehearsal, and Phoebe had been playing in her downstairs play room for most of the game. ... But she understands my love for the Jayhawks and joined me on the couch for the final minute or so.
As the clock ran down, I stood up in front of the TV and began clapping and cheering. Phoebe joined me and for several seconds we danced around the living room together singing KU's praises. With similar emotions to that epic night of the 2008 national championship -- the baby who was already pulling so heavily on my heart that night, and now a KU-winning bracket for the child on the way -- I caught myself in the moment with my eyes welling up a bit.
Not long afterward, Kates arrived home to Phoebe and I now resting on the couch. Kates looked at me wide-eyed and asked "Did they?!"
"They did. Jayhawks in the Final Four, Baby!" I said with my arms outstretched over my head.
(Updated: 03.26.2012) Good reads ...
a KU returns to its identity as it reaches Final Four
a Self has shaped the Jayhawks into muscle
a First Look at the Final Four
a Postgame Interviews, Some Net Cutting and a Sweet Homecoming
On top of the Kansas win, the only thing that would have made a better cap to my spring break week would have been watching tonight's “Mad Man” Season 5 premiere.
Unfortunately, Kates and I lost track of the show during Season 4 when our TV blew up, and we're still working to get caught up. Distractions like graduate school and baby preparation have made it a little more difficult than we’d like.
3.24.2012
So maddening
Dang, Jayhawks. You do like to make it interesting.
Good thing Jeff Withey blocked a gazillion shots and North Carolina State actually allowed Thomas Robinson to score in the paint.
And Elijah Johnson. There he was again tonight with a clutch layup to seal the win for Kansas during the final seconds. Elijah is the man for KU right now.
With the win, of course, Kansas moves on to play Sunday against the vaunted North Carolina Tar Heels. For a trip to the Final Four.
My heart was pounding as the clocked ticked away on regulation of that Ohio-North Carolina game earlier tonight. But Ohio couldn't put the game away, and North Carolina got the best of them in overtime. ... It would have been glorious had Ohio pulled off the upset. Dare I say it, after the way North Carolina looked tonight, I think Kansas has a decent shot of winning Sunday.
There was a time tonight that I thought Indiana was going to pull off the upset of Kentucky, which also would have been glorious had it panned out. But it didn't.
So at this point Baby’s bracket is faring best of the three we filled out in our house. ... Not sure what it is about babys in the NCAA tournament. Phoebe's bracket outdid mine in 2008.
Phoebe’s bracket died last night when Wisconsin lost that heart-breaking thriller to Syracuse -- which Jim Boeheim and others called one of the best-played tournament games ever, in a tournament that's shaping up to be one for the ages. … The game was in the Badgers’ hands for the taking. Oh, it was tough to watch those final 20 seconds and the botched play on the last possession. But I give Syracuse a lot of credit. Watching them play that suffocating zone defense was something special.
Meanwhile, Kentucky and North Carolina are the only Final Four teams I have remaining in my bracket, and the Baylor-Kentucky matchup is the only regional final that I accurately predicted.
Good reads ...
a KU needs Robinson’s ‘A’ game in NCAA Tournament
a Thomas Robinson: Talent chiseled by hard knocks
a KU's Elijah Johnson is on course in life
a Fun-loving reporter Sager's wardrobe speaks loudly ... No TBS sports broadcast would be complete without him and his rainbow-colored suits.
For the first few minutes Friday night, Kansas’s Midwest Regional semifinal with North Carolina State suspiciously resembled its third-round tussle with Purdue. The Wolfpack, like the Boilermakers, jumped out to an early lead and made the second-seeded Jayhawks sweat right to the finish. (The New York Times)They play like a junior varsity team the first 10 minutes of the game and need the rest of the first half to chip away at the deficit. Then, just when you think they’ve taken control in the second half, they go turn the ball over five times and let North Carolina State outscore them 17-10 in the final 11 minutes. Yeesh!
Good thing Jeff Withey blocked a gazillion shots and North Carolina State actually allowed Thomas Robinson to score in the paint.
And Elijah Johnson. There he was again tonight with a clutch layup to seal the win for Kansas during the final seconds. Elijah is the man for KU right now.
With the win, of course, Kansas moves on to play Sunday against the vaunted North Carolina Tar Heels. For a trip to the Final Four.
My heart was pounding as the clocked ticked away on regulation of that Ohio-North Carolina game earlier tonight. But Ohio couldn't put the game away, and North Carolina got the best of them in overtime. ... It would have been glorious had Ohio pulled off the upset. Dare I say it, after the way North Carolina looked tonight, I think Kansas has a decent shot of winning Sunday.
There was a time tonight that I thought Indiana was going to pull off the upset of Kentucky, which also would have been glorious had it panned out. But it didn't.
So at this point Baby’s bracket is faring best of the three we filled out in our house. ... Not sure what it is about babys in the NCAA tournament. Phoebe's bracket outdid mine in 2008.
Phoebe’s bracket died last night when Wisconsin lost that heart-breaking thriller to Syracuse -- which Jim Boeheim and others called one of the best-played tournament games ever, in a tournament that's shaping up to be one for the ages. … The game was in the Badgers’ hands for the taking. Oh, it was tough to watch those final 20 seconds and the botched play on the last possession. But I give Syracuse a lot of credit. Watching them play that suffocating zone defense was something special.
Meanwhile, Kentucky and North Carolina are the only Final Four teams I have remaining in my bracket, and the Baylor-Kentucky matchup is the only regional final that I accurately predicted.
Good reads ...
a KU needs Robinson’s ‘A’ game in NCAA Tournament
a Thomas Robinson: Talent chiseled by hard knocks
a KU's Elijah Johnson is on course in life
a Fun-loving reporter Sager's wardrobe speaks loudly ... No TBS sports broadcast would be complete without him and his rainbow-colored suits.
3.19.2012
The Madness, continued
Oh, Jayhawks.
They nearly did it to me again last night. But I’d rather have them leave me speechless -- the way they did last night -- than heartbroken. Like they've done so many times before.
This weekend, I went to work hard on Baby 2’s room. In doing so, I moved our 19-inch TV from our master bedroom to the baby’s room and stretched a long cable cord down the hallway so I could keep tabs on the basketball games while I worked.
How exciting were Saturday’s games!? They picked up right where Friday night’s thrillers left off and I my Saturday could not have been better, as I watched the games from morning 'til night. Syracuse knocked off Kansas State. Ohio State beat Gonzaga. Indiana topped VCU in a thriller. Louisville put away New Mexico. And Wisconsin squeaked by Vanderbilt on a missed last-second shot, which of course had our house roaring Saturday evening.
I didn’t get much work done in the baby's room during last night's Kansas-Purdue game, however. … And when I did make progress with my painting, it was only because Kansas was playing so poorly I couldn’t stand to watch.
After all, Purdue should have won that game. They led for like 39 of the 40 minutes that make up a regulation game. The Boilermakers had totally shut down Thomas Robinson, and Tyshawn Taylor was cold.
Then Elijah Johnson happened.
When he nailed that three-pointer to give Kansas its first lead with three minutes left in the game, I had one of those moments where I had to do all I could to squelch my excitement because Phoebe was sleeping in the next room.
My eyes were glued on the TV the rest of the way, and by the final minute I was on all fours. Chewing my T-shirt collar.
Purdue took back the lead and had a chance to put the game away with 20 seconds left. But Purdue’s Lewis Jackson lost control of the ball. … Good ol’ Elijah was there to snatch it up and run it up the floor for what proved to be the game-winning layup.
Purdue had two more attempts to win or tie the game in the final 20 seconds, but both failed. Kansas won 63-60. Unbelievable finish.
When it was finally over, I sank back on the wall and burst into anxious laughter.
“Why are you laughing?” Kates asked from downstairs.
Good reads ...
a KU hopes flaws were one-time deal
a Kansas Rallies Past Purdue and Into Final 16
a Lower Profile, but No Longer Overlooked by N.C.A.A.
a Hanging From the Rafters, Lasting Symbols of Success and Pride
a Which teams have the best chances to upset powerhouse Kentucky?
They nearly did it to me again last night. But I’d rather have them leave me speechless -- the way they did last night -- than heartbroken. Like they've done so many times before.
This weekend, I went to work hard on Baby 2’s room. In doing so, I moved our 19-inch TV from our master bedroom to the baby’s room and stretched a long cable cord down the hallway so I could keep tabs on the basketball games while I worked.
How exciting were Saturday’s games!? They picked up right where Friday night’s thrillers left off and I my Saturday could not have been better, as I watched the games from morning 'til night. Syracuse knocked off Kansas State. Ohio State beat Gonzaga. Indiana topped VCU in a thriller. Louisville put away New Mexico. And Wisconsin squeaked by Vanderbilt on a missed last-second shot, which of course had our house roaring Saturday evening.
I didn’t get much work done in the baby's room during last night's Kansas-Purdue game, however. … And when I did make progress with my painting, it was only because Kansas was playing so poorly I couldn’t stand to watch.
After all, Purdue should have won that game. They led for like 39 of the 40 minutes that make up a regulation game. The Boilermakers had totally shut down Thomas Robinson, and Tyshawn Taylor was cold.
Then Elijah Johnson happened.
When he nailed that three-pointer to give Kansas its first lead with three minutes left in the game, I had one of those moments where I had to do all I could to squelch my excitement because Phoebe was sleeping in the next room.
My eyes were glued on the TV the rest of the way, and by the final minute I was on all fours. Chewing my T-shirt collar.
Purdue took back the lead and had a chance to put the game away with 20 seconds left. But Purdue’s Lewis Jackson lost control of the ball. … Good ol’ Elijah was there to snatch it up and run it up the floor for what proved to be the game-winning layup.
Purdue had two more attempts to win or tie the game in the final 20 seconds, but both failed. Kansas won 63-60. Unbelievable finish.
When it was finally over, I sank back on the wall and burst into anxious laughter.
“Why are you laughing?” Kates asked from downstairs.
Good reads ...
a KU hopes flaws were one-time deal
a Kansas Rallies Past Purdue and Into Final 16
a Lower Profile, but No Longer Overlooked by N.C.A.A.
a Hanging From the Rafters, Lasting Symbols of Success and Pride
a Which teams have the best chances to upset powerhouse Kentucky?
3.17.2012
The Madness
So I filled out my bracket -- half asleep -- around 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
My bracket made it through Thursday’s first round games mostly intact. Although I foolishly picked Wichita State to beat VCU and Long Beach State as an upset over New Mexico; after VCU’s success last year, I should have known they were capable of taking out Wichita State, and Long Beach State -- I’m not sure what I was thinking. I also missed on Gonzaga over West Virginia; in recent years, it seems, Gonzaga has underachieved during the tournament, so I bet on them getting knocked out in the first round. The only other game I failed to pick was Colorado’s upset of UNLV.
On a side note, WTMX, the Chicago radio station that I listen to faithfully each morning had a good bit this morning: Every time anyone mentioned VCU coach Shaka Smart, the intro of Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You” charged over the airwaves. It made me burst into laughter every time.
Then, today happened.
I arrived home from work in time to catch the second half of the Missouri-Norfolk State game. As hard as I was trying to finish another piece of my graduate homework for this week, I couldn’t look away from the TV. … Missouri couldn’t seem to knock down any shots, and Norfolk State was just plain outplaying the Tigers.
Then the game got really good during those final seconds. When Phil Pressey hit that 3-pointer to cut Missouri's deficit to 85-84 with 10 seconds left, I thought, Whoah! Missouri could still pull this thing out! ... Then, Norfolk players suddenly lost their ability to make free throws. Missouri almost stole the game on a botched inbounds pass. And the Tigers had a chance to grab one more possession after a Norfolk missed free throw. But Norfolk held on.
I had Missouri in my Elite Eight.
Upset city. And it got better.
North Carolina State upset San Diego State (picked it!), Creighton beat Alabama by one (picked it!), Xavier upset Notre Dame (picked it!) and Purdue upset St. Mary’s (picked it!). I was wrong, however, on Florida over Virginia, St. Louis over Memphis, South Florida over Temple, and Ohio over Michigan.
Kates and Phoebe arrived home and we settled in for the Duke-Lehigh game.
That was the big one.
Like Missouri, Duke seemed out of sorts. And Lehigh was running all over them, tossing balls up the court like a quarterback throwing passes to a wide receiver streaking down the sideline. Lehigh played with such tenacity and fearlessness -- it was something special to watch.
Norfolk State and Lehigh put on such exciting shows in their defeats of Missouri and Duke -- which I had going to the Sweet Sixteen -- that I didn’t mind the impacts on my bracket. ... It was the first time in NCAA tournament history that two No. 15 seeds defeated No. 2 seeds -- and they did it on the same day.
That kind of excitement is what March Madness is all about. Look how tired it made Phoebe ...
For the record, my Final Four consists of Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Florida State. Then I have Kentucky and North Carolina facing off in the championship game, with Kentucky taking the whole she-bang.
Kentucky, Michigan State and North Carolina, of course, are popular picks as No. 1 seeds. … But I’ve been impressed with Florida State the last couple weeks, and I think they’re getting hot at the right time. I predict they beat Syracuse in the regional final for a trip to New Orleans.
Other notables: I’ve got Wisconsin winning its first game, but falling to Vanderbilt in the second round. I have Kansas losing to Georgetown in the Sweet Sixteen. I have Murray State upsetting Marquette to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. And Baylor meeting Kentucky in the Elite Eight round.
Phoebe filled out a bracket, too.
In past years, I’ve simply filled out an extra bracket and submitted it under her name. But this year I wanted to giver her the chance to make her own picks. … So last night -- I let it slide that some of the games already had been played -- I printed a bracket for her, and we sat on the couch with me reading each matchup -- line by line, round by round -- so she could select her teams.
Needless to say, almost all of her picks were lower seeds. Her Final Four consists of Duke (oops!), BYU (oops!), Belmont (oops!) and Wisconsin. She has Duke and Wisconsin in her championship with Wisconsin winning it all.
By picking mostly lower seeds, however, she successfully called VCU over Wichita State, South Florida over Temple, Ohio over Michigan, North Carolina State over San Diego State, and Purdue over Saint Mary’s.
She also picked Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri to go deep into the tournament.
Thus, my theory is that her picks were based on teams she was familiar with because I talk about them and watch them a lot. Or because she liked the way their names sounded -- like St. Bonaventure.
Of course, Baby No. 2 got a bracket this year as well. Because let’s not forget the luck that came when I filled out a bracket for Phoebe the year she was born. Her bracket had Kansas winning it all -- and as luck had it -- it happened.
So, it should come as no surprise that Baby No. 2’s bracket features Kansas as the national champion. (Hey, I had to get my Jayhawks in there somehow.)
The rest of her Final Four includes Missouri (oops!), Kentucky and Syracuse, with Kentucky advancing to the final against Kansas.
Like Phoebe's the year she was born, I think Baby No. 2 has the best bracket of all of us.
I contemplated advancing Missouri to the championship against Kansas, and even throwing Wisconsin into the Final Four instead of Syracuse.
But that wouldn’t be realistic now, would it?
a KU professor researching Naismith, religion and basketball
a Old rivals sharing close quarters in Omaha
a Thursday in Bracketland: VCU Signs In
a Long, strange trip it's been: Fired in disgrace, Eustachy is back
a In 1956, a Racial Law Repelled Harvard’s Team
a For Two-Way Referee, It’s N.F.L. One Day, College Basketball the Next
a No Dribbling and No Passing, but Free Throws Are Nonstop
a The Onion: Report: Only Matter Of Time Before A 'SportsCenter' Host Snaps, Blows Brains Out On Live Television
My bracket made it through Thursday’s first round games mostly intact. Although I foolishly picked Wichita State to beat VCU and Long Beach State as an upset over New Mexico; after VCU’s success last year, I should have known they were capable of taking out Wichita State, and Long Beach State -- I’m not sure what I was thinking. I also missed on Gonzaga over West Virginia; in recent years, it seems, Gonzaga has underachieved during the tournament, so I bet on them getting knocked out in the first round. The only other game I failed to pick was Colorado’s upset of UNLV.
On a side note, WTMX, the Chicago radio station that I listen to faithfully each morning had a good bit this morning: Every time anyone mentioned VCU coach Shaka Smart, the intro of Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You” charged over the airwaves. It made me burst into laughter every time.
Then, today happened.
I arrived home from work in time to catch the second half of the Missouri-Norfolk State game. As hard as I was trying to finish another piece of my graduate homework for this week, I couldn’t look away from the TV. … Missouri couldn’t seem to knock down any shots, and Norfolk State was just plain outplaying the Tigers.
Then the game got really good during those final seconds. When Phil Pressey hit that 3-pointer to cut Missouri's deficit to 85-84 with 10 seconds left, I thought, Whoah! Missouri could still pull this thing out! ... Then, Norfolk players suddenly lost their ability to make free throws. Missouri almost stole the game on a botched inbounds pass. And the Tigers had a chance to grab one more possession after a Norfolk missed free throw. But Norfolk held on.
I had Missouri in my Elite Eight.
Upset city. And it got better.
North Carolina State upset San Diego State (picked it!), Creighton beat Alabama by one (picked it!), Xavier upset Notre Dame (picked it!) and Purdue upset St. Mary’s (picked it!). I was wrong, however, on Florida over Virginia, St. Louis over Memphis, South Florida over Temple, and Ohio over Michigan.
Kates and Phoebe arrived home and we settled in for the Duke-Lehigh game.
That was the big one.
Like Missouri, Duke seemed out of sorts. And Lehigh was running all over them, tossing balls up the court like a quarterback throwing passes to a wide receiver streaking down the sideline. Lehigh played with such tenacity and fearlessness -- it was something special to watch.
Norfolk State and Lehigh put on such exciting shows in their defeats of Missouri and Duke -- which I had going to the Sweet Sixteen -- that I didn’t mind the impacts on my bracket. ... It was the first time in NCAA tournament history that two No. 15 seeds defeated No. 2 seeds -- and they did it on the same day.
That kind of excitement is what March Madness is all about. Look how tired it made Phoebe ...
* * *
For the record, my Final Four consists of Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Florida State. Then I have Kentucky and North Carolina facing off in the championship game, with Kentucky taking the whole she-bang.
Kentucky, Michigan State and North Carolina, of course, are popular picks as No. 1 seeds. … But I’ve been impressed with Florida State the last couple weeks, and I think they’re getting hot at the right time. I predict they beat Syracuse in the regional final for a trip to New Orleans.
Other notables: I’ve got Wisconsin winning its first game, but falling to Vanderbilt in the second round. I have Kansas losing to Georgetown in the Sweet Sixteen. I have Murray State upsetting Marquette to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. And Baylor meeting Kentucky in the Elite Eight round.
* * *
Phoebe filled out a bracket, too.
In past years, I’ve simply filled out an extra bracket and submitted it under her name. But this year I wanted to giver her the chance to make her own picks. … So last night -- I let it slide that some of the games already had been played -- I printed a bracket for her, and we sat on the couch with me reading each matchup -- line by line, round by round -- so she could select her teams.
Needless to say, almost all of her picks were lower seeds. Her Final Four consists of Duke (oops!), BYU (oops!), Belmont (oops!) and Wisconsin. She has Duke and Wisconsin in her championship with Wisconsin winning it all.
By picking mostly lower seeds, however, she successfully called VCU over Wichita State, South Florida over Temple, Ohio over Michigan, North Carolina State over San Diego State, and Purdue over Saint Mary’s.
She also picked Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri to go deep into the tournament.
Thus, my theory is that her picks were based on teams she was familiar with because I talk about them and watch them a lot. Or because she liked the way their names sounded -- like St. Bonaventure.
* * *
Of course, Baby No. 2 got a bracket this year as well. Because let’s not forget the luck that came when I filled out a bracket for Phoebe the year she was born. Her bracket had Kansas winning it all -- and as luck had it -- it happened.
So, it should come as no surprise that Baby No. 2’s bracket features Kansas as the national champion. (Hey, I had to get my Jayhawks in there somehow.)
The rest of her Final Four includes Missouri (oops!), Kentucky and Syracuse, with Kentucky advancing to the final against Kansas.
Like Phoebe's the year she was born, I think Baby No. 2 has the best bracket of all of us.
I contemplated advancing Missouri to the championship against Kansas, and even throwing Wisconsin into the Final Four instead of Syracuse.
But that wouldn’t be realistic now, would it?
Good reads ...
a Inside the Jayhawks: They don't eat bird fooda KU professor researching Naismith, religion and basketball
a Old rivals sharing close quarters in Omaha
a Thursday in Bracketland: VCU Signs In
a Long, strange trip it's been: Fired in disgrace, Eustachy is back
a In 1956, a Racial Law Repelled Harvard’s Team
a For Two-Way Referee, It’s N.F.L. One Day, College Basketball the Next
a No Dribbling and No Passing, but Free Throws Are Nonstop
a The Onion: Report: Only Matter Of Time Before A 'SportsCenter' Host Snaps, Blows Brains Out On Live Television
3.27.2011
Crazy madness
My NCAA tournament bracket -- which had held up miraculously well during this crazy tournament year -- officially died at about 2:40 this afternoon when the No. 1-seeded Kansas lost to the No. 11-seeded Virginia Commonwealth.
I may not have cared about yesterday’s games. But with North Carolina and Kansas forecasted in my championship game, I was sitting in prime money territory heading into today’s games.
Neither survived.
I had a hunch Kentucky would take care of North Carolina, but a Kansas loss … aye.
The Jayhawks repeatedly shot themselves in the feet by trying to match VCU’s three-point shooting and not pushing the ball inside. Plain and simple.
Ah, well. I wasn’t too attached to this year’s team anyway. And I was prepared for this, given that No. 1 has rarely been good for Kansas, and the favorites have been dropping like flies during this tournament.
The legend of 2008 lives on.
As for the office pool, after a quick skim, the facts are amusing. When it’s over, not one of our 56 participants will have predicted the national champion. What’s more, not one participant correctly predicted any of the teams eligible to play in the championship game. Only four people predicted one of the remaining teams left in the Final Four. (I should've gone with Butler ... )
With three games left to play, the final standings are already sealed -- and the winner picked Duke to take it all.
For the record, I’ll finish in seventh place.
(Updated: 04.01.2011) Good reads ...
a Rock choke: KU stumbles again in Elite Eight
a Bill Self’s Knack for Being Liked
a Uncanny Partnership of Morris and Morris
a Teams take their best shot at Goliaths like KU
a V.C.U.’s Brightest Star May Be the Head Coach
a Cinderalla, say hello to Cinderella
a The MVP of the NCAA tournament: The mute button
a Head-Scratching Plays Dominate the N.C.A.A.
a Squeezing juice from tourney
a Coaches Calhoun and Calipari Share a Genuine Dislike
a For Butler’s Stevens, a Career Change Paid Off
I may not have cared about yesterday’s games. But with North Carolina and Kansas forecasted in my championship game, I was sitting in prime money territory heading into today’s games.
Neither survived.
I had a hunch Kentucky would take care of North Carolina, but a Kansas loss … aye.
The Jayhawks repeatedly shot themselves in the feet by trying to match VCU’s three-point shooting and not pushing the ball inside. Plain and simple.
Ah, well. I wasn’t too attached to this year’s team anyway. And I was prepared for this, given that No. 1 has rarely been good for Kansas, and the favorites have been dropping like flies during this tournament.
The legend of 2008 lives on.
As for the office pool, after a quick skim, the facts are amusing. When it’s over, not one of our 56 participants will have predicted the national champion. What’s more, not one participant correctly predicted any of the teams eligible to play in the championship game. Only four people predicted one of the remaining teams left in the Final Four. (I should've gone with Butler ... )
With three games left to play, the final standings are already sealed -- and the winner picked Duke to take it all.
For the record, I’ll finish in seventh place.
(Updated: 04.01.2011) Good reads ...
a Rock choke: KU stumbles again in Elite Eight
a Bill Self’s Knack for Being Liked
a Uncanny Partnership of Morris and Morris
a Teams take their best shot at Goliaths like KU
a V.C.U.’s Brightest Star May Be the Head Coach
a Cinderalla, say hello to Cinderella
a The MVP of the NCAA tournament: The mute button
a Head-Scratching Plays Dominate the N.C.A.A.
a Squeezing juice from tourney
a Coaches Calhoun and Calipari Share a Genuine Dislike
a For Butler’s Stevens, a Career Change Paid Off
3.21.2011
March Madness!
The first weekend of March Madness is complete, and -- dare I say -- I’m liking where my teams are sitting.
I nearly didn’t fill out a bracket this year.
In the midst of all the chaos in our lives the last few months, I’ve watched exactly two college basketball games this year -- Kansas’ thriller over UCLA early in the season and then No. 1 KU’s loss to K-State, which I predicted given KU’s reputation for playing inconsistently and complacently on the big stages, not to mention the tense in-state rivalry and that the Jayhawks were playing in The Octagon of Doom.
It’s also worth noting that, after making our move, we didn’t have a TV last week until I made a run home during my lunch break Thursday and set it up so I could catch some of the basketball. Thus, I missed all of the talking heads on ESPN analyzing every team, picking the sleepers and influencing my picks.
And speaking of the TV coverage, I am loving the new partnership between CBS and TNT/TBS/TruTV. When the deal was announced last year, I wasn't keen on the games being shown by a network other than CBS -- it just seemed wrong -- but the the ability to watch any tournament game of my choosing -- or flip back and forth to watch bits of multiple games -- this weekend, and not a regional matchup of the local network's choosing, has been a dream come true -- or should I say Tru.
Still, I’ve watched, read and listened to enough sports highlights this season to think maybe I had a shot of at least being in the hunt for some prize money. I threw my bracket together on Thursday morning, just hours before the tournament’s opening games and submitted it for the Funnest Office Pool Ever.
Given my lack of time and knowledge of the competition this year, I didn’t fill out a bracket for Phoebe, as I’ve done the last two years. Next year I’ll get her into it again.
Usually, I’m liberal with my upset picks, but I played it conservatively this year -- once again because I haven’t watched enough basketball to feel confident in any major upsets or have many doubts about the higher seeds. … I picked two No. 11 seeds -- Marquette and Missouri -- as my only upsets. As it turned out, Missouri -- the one of which I was more sure -- was the only 11 seed not to advance.
As for my Final Four, I went with three No. 1s -- Duke, Pittsburgh, Kansas -- and No. 2 North Carolina, which I’m betting puts together a good run in the tournament. I then put North Carolina and Kansas in my championship game with the Jayhawks winning it all.
Don’t ask me why I’m picking Kansas to win it all. Any one who follows them closely and understands their tournament history knows this cannot end well. But I seem to fall for it every year and place them at or very near national champion status. ... Although, now it looks like they'll have a cake walk to the Final Four with the way the high seeds fell in the Southwest Region this week. But never say never.
And now, at the close of the first weekend, would you believe I’ve ranked as high as No. 4 and no lower than No. 9 in the standings (out of 60-some participants)? ... So far, it's paid off to stay with higher seeds -- teams like San Diego State, BYU and Florida -- that I might not have backed in typical years. I also was a believer in Wisconsin, which I picked to beat K-State; the Badgers play tough defense, and I thought K-State was overrated.
Only now, after watching this weekend’s games, I’m wishing I had Butler and Ohio State going deeper. Butler is looking like they still have the tournament mojo that carried them last year. ... The ending of the Butler-Pittsburgh game last night was the most mind-boggling, make-you-want-to-scream-at-the-TV ending to a game I think I've ever seen.
And Ohio State is looking so good that I’m starting to think I took a big risk by having North Carolina beat them in the Elite Eight round.
I’m also watching Connecticut closely. My bracket has UConn advancing to the Elite Eight before losing to Duke. Given the run they put together in the Big East Tournament, I’m thinking the Huskies could be one of the toughest teams to knock out of the tournament, or they could be dropped any time.
Good reads ...
a Perfectly improbable: A flawless NCAA bracket ... “By taking the classic 64-team bracket, the number of possible outcomes for those games is 9 quintillion, 223 quadrillion, or 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. So if everyone in the worldfilled out a bracket once a second (impossible), it would still take them about 42 years to fill out all the possible combinations.”
a NCAA Tournament’s beauty rests on a bracket
a The Onion: Office Pool's Low Number Of Bracket Printouts A Reminder Of How Many Employees Were Laid Off Last Year
a Will bigger field scare folks out of the pools?
a The Awkward Officiating Dance at the N.C.A.A. Tournament
a Madness worth watching
a Talent Is Nice, but Luck Is Vital
I nearly didn’t fill out a bracket this year.
In the midst of all the chaos in our lives the last few months, I’ve watched exactly two college basketball games this year -- Kansas’ thriller over UCLA early in the season and then No. 1 KU’s loss to K-State, which I predicted given KU’s reputation for playing inconsistently and complacently on the big stages, not to mention the tense in-state rivalry and that the Jayhawks were playing in The Octagon of Doom.
It’s also worth noting that, after making our move, we didn’t have a TV last week until I made a run home during my lunch break Thursday and set it up so I could catch some of the basketball. Thus, I missed all of the talking heads on ESPN analyzing every team, picking the sleepers and influencing my picks.
And speaking of the TV coverage, I am loving the new partnership between CBS and TNT/TBS/TruTV. When the deal was announced last year, I wasn't keen on the games being shown by a network other than CBS -- it just seemed wrong -- but the the ability to watch any tournament game of my choosing -- or flip back and forth to watch bits of multiple games -- this weekend, and not a regional matchup of the local network's choosing, has been a dream come true -- or should I say Tru.
Still, I’ve watched, read and listened to enough sports highlights this season to think maybe I had a shot of at least being in the hunt for some prize money. I threw my bracket together on Thursday morning, just hours before the tournament’s opening games and submitted it for the Funnest Office Pool Ever.
Given my lack of time and knowledge of the competition this year, I didn’t fill out a bracket for Phoebe, as I’ve done the last two years. Next year I’ll get her into it again.
Usually, I’m liberal with my upset picks, but I played it conservatively this year -- once again because I haven’t watched enough basketball to feel confident in any major upsets or have many doubts about the higher seeds. … I picked two No. 11 seeds -- Marquette and Missouri -- as my only upsets. As it turned out, Missouri -- the one of which I was more sure -- was the only 11 seed not to advance.
As for my Final Four, I went with three No. 1s -- Duke, Pittsburgh, Kansas -- and No. 2 North Carolina, which I’m betting puts together a good run in the tournament. I then put North Carolina and Kansas in my championship game with the Jayhawks winning it all.
Don’t ask me why I’m picking Kansas to win it all. Any one who follows them closely and understands their tournament history knows this cannot end well. But I seem to fall for it every year and place them at or very near national champion status. ... Although, now it looks like they'll have a cake walk to the Final Four with the way the high seeds fell in the Southwest Region this week. But never say never.
And now, at the close of the first weekend, would you believe I’ve ranked as high as No. 4 and no lower than No. 9 in the standings (out of 60-some participants)? ... So far, it's paid off to stay with higher seeds -- teams like San Diego State, BYU and Florida -- that I might not have backed in typical years. I also was a believer in Wisconsin, which I picked to beat K-State; the Badgers play tough defense, and I thought K-State was overrated.
Only now, after watching this weekend’s games, I’m wishing I had Butler and Ohio State going deeper. Butler is looking like they still have the tournament mojo that carried them last year. ... The ending of the Butler-Pittsburgh game last night was the most mind-boggling, make-you-want-to-scream-at-the-TV ending to a game I think I've ever seen.
And Ohio State is looking so good that I’m starting to think I took a big risk by having North Carolina beat them in the Elite Eight round.
I’m also watching Connecticut closely. My bracket has UConn advancing to the Elite Eight before losing to Duke. Given the run they put together in the Big East Tournament, I’m thinking the Huskies could be one of the toughest teams to knock out of the tournament, or they could be dropped any time.
Good reads ...
a Perfectly improbable: A flawless NCAA bracket ... “By taking the classic 64-team bracket, the number of possible outcomes for those games is 9 quintillion, 223 quadrillion, or 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. So if everyone in the worldfilled out a bracket once a second (impossible), it would still take them about 42 years to fill out all the possible combinations.”
a NCAA Tournament’s beauty rests on a bracket
a The Onion: Office Pool's Low Number Of Bracket Printouts A Reminder Of How Many Employees Were Laid Off Last Year
a Will bigger field scare folks out of the pools?
a The Awkward Officiating Dance at the N.C.A.A. Tournament
a Madness worth watching
a Talent Is Nice, but Luck Is Vital
6.11.2010
One week
Some week.
It’s been the best of times …
I had a fantastic week mentally and professionally. I was in my sports heaven on Sunday night. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup … And I even got to see a good portion of the ticker tape parade in Chicago this morning, thanks to the magic of the Internet and NBC5’s streaming video feed …
Dare I say, watching that parade today was even more memorable than the White Sox celebration five years ago. Chills were running down my back at the sound of the cheers and the sight of the double decker buses rolling down Michigan Avenue with the players. Then, the shots of red and white confetti flying everywhere, the crowd chasing after the buses, and the pans showing the unbelievable enormity of the crowd had me tearing up. (This video shows a neat birds-eye-view of all of it.)
“You absolutely want to freeze this moment in time,” one of the newscasters said.
Admittedly, things did start to get a little out of hand near the end of the parade route. I can only imagine the letters the Blackhawks will be getting from parents of young fans about the display Patrick Kane put on as they drank beer from the Stanley Cup ... especially after their rowdy victory lap the other night.
Still, I can't get the Blackhawks adopted theme song out of my head and the grand images of the celebration will be ingrained in my head for days, weeks to come.
It’s been the worst of times …
Oil is still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of who-knows-what. To quote one newsman this week, it’s “relentlessly depressing.”
I almost threw up on my bagel the other morning when I saw the commercial with CEO Tony Hayward assuring me that BP has taken full responsibility to end the crisis ... More active, enlightening and amusing is the infamous BPGlobalPR Twitter account … which BP tried to stifle this week. (Thanks to my friend Mallory for sending this explanation of BPGlobalPR.)
Just get the dang pipe covered already.
And then there’s the sick feeling of watching the Big 12 crumble and die right before our eyes.
The story has dominated local news the last two weeks, and it never fails to come up in conversations with friends and colleagues, too. Big time college athletics in this region will never be the same.
I‘m not opposed to any changes … But I hate the idea that theses changes seem to be driven by greed, money, TV revenue and that stupid BCS.
It’s nerve-racking that a conference with such a strong history and storied rivalries can be destroyed within the blink of an eye. Worse yet, respectable programs like Kansas are hardly being considered. One of the popular lines this week among Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri fans is that one of them won’t have a chair when this game of musical chairs stops.
I’m rooting for them to end up anywhere but the Mountain West. A Big 10 landing would be stellar, but that doesn't seem likely.
Oh yeah, and we’re still navigating the anxiety of selling our house in K-Town.
Two more weeks, and Phase 1 of The Adventure is over.
It’s been the best of times …
I had a fantastic week mentally and professionally. I was in my sports heaven on Sunday night. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup … And I even got to see a good portion of the ticker tape parade in Chicago this morning, thanks to the magic of the Internet and NBC5’s streaming video feed …
Dare I say, watching that parade today was even more memorable than the White Sox celebration five years ago. Chills were running down my back at the sound of the cheers and the sight of the double decker buses rolling down Michigan Avenue with the players. Then, the shots of red and white confetti flying everywhere, the crowd chasing after the buses, and the pans showing the unbelievable enormity of the crowd had me tearing up. (This video shows a neat birds-eye-view of all of it.)
“You absolutely want to freeze this moment in time,” one of the newscasters said.
Admittedly, things did start to get a little out of hand near the end of the parade route. I can only imagine the letters the Blackhawks will be getting from parents of young fans about the display Patrick Kane put on as they drank beer from the Stanley Cup ... especially after their rowdy victory lap the other night.
Still, I can't get the Blackhawks adopted theme song out of my head and the grand images of the celebration will be ingrained in my head for days, weeks to come.
* * *
It’s been the worst of times …
Oil is still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of who-knows-what. To quote one newsman this week, it’s “relentlessly depressing.”
I almost threw up on my bagel the other morning when I saw the commercial with CEO Tony Hayward assuring me that BP has taken full responsibility to end the crisis ... More active, enlightening and amusing is the infamous BPGlobalPR Twitter account … which BP tried to stifle this week. (Thanks to my friend Mallory for sending this explanation of BPGlobalPR.)
Just get the dang pipe covered already.
And then there’s the sick feeling of watching the Big 12 crumble and die right before our eyes.
The story has dominated local news the last two weeks, and it never fails to come up in conversations with friends and colleagues, too. Big time college athletics in this region will never be the same.
I‘m not opposed to any changes … But I hate the idea that theses changes seem to be driven by greed, money, TV revenue and that stupid BCS.
It’s nerve-racking that a conference with such a strong history and storied rivalries can be destroyed within the blink of an eye. Worse yet, respectable programs like Kansas are hardly being considered. One of the popular lines this week among Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri fans is that one of them won’t have a chair when this game of musical chairs stops.
I’m rooting for them to end up anywhere but the Mountain West. A Big 10 landing would be stellar, but that doesn't seem likely.
Oh yeah, and we’re still navigating the anxiety of selling our house in K-Town.
Two more weeks, and Phase 1 of The Adventure is over.
3.26.2010
Still maddening!
Finally, someone missed. Xavier's Jordan Crawford missed a three-pointer and then his teammate Brad Redford missed another, and finally it was over. After 50 minutes and 197 points in the most epic battle in this most epic of NCAA tournaments, Kansas State could finally move on to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1988. ~Kelli Anderson/Sports IllustratedEpic is right. As in so epic, I’m having trouble thinking of any other words to describe it …
For most of last night’s K-State/Xavier game I was only half-watching, working on projects and then talking on Skype with my parents -- for the first time, I should add. They barely had their new toy out of the box when they were ringing me for a face-to-face computer chat.
Then Kates called for our nightly end-of-the-day chat, and I could hardly keep my attention focused on her as K-State and Xavier traded three-pointer after three-pointer after three-pointer.
As the end of regulation neared, and the barrage of points was just beginning, it seemed like everyone put down what they were doing and started to pay closer attention. My Facebook and Twitter accounts began lighting up, and we were all taking great pleasure in the NCAA tournament classic unfolding before our eyes -- commenting, cheering and jeering as if all of us were in the same living room …
My friend Dionna: I am NERVOUS!Gosh, I love social media!
Me: Are you kidding me!?!! It's raining threes!!!
My friend Jason: SERIOUSLY!!!!??? they can NOT miss a 3!!!!!!!
My friend Matt: Are you kidding me? You might as well put Pullen and Crawford out there alone and whoever misses first loses.
My friend Lisa: OMG! Andy just woke me up. Figured the games were over long ago - but no at 11:25 I see 2OT and time left on the clock!
It was just as fun to hear the excitement in the voices of the guys broadcasting the game on CBS. Oooh! They shouted with every three-pointer that went down.
So many incredible plays were made that exuberant CBS announcer Gus Johnson was bursting out of his midcourt seat between overtimes to celebrate the spectacle. ~Kellis Robinett/Kansas City StarHere's another good read about Frank Martin and the resurgence of the K-State program.
* * *
Just when I thought Kansas’s loss last weekend had shot my interest in the tournament, last night happened. No. 1 seed Syracuse fell to Butler in a dramatic game; the K-State thriller followed.
I’ll echo what every college basketball fan seems to be saying. This year’s tournament has been one of the most exciting tournaments I can recall -- at the least, since some of the mind-boggling tourneys of the late 90s. Remember Weber State over North Carolina?
And somehow, I’m still hanging around the top of my office pool.
The standings that arrived in my inbox this morning had be sitting in sixth place … And now, after a whole lot of fluctuating in the last week, and with Ohio State falling (good thing I didn’t write them in after all) and Baylor winning tonight, the standings have come full circle. Tonight, I’m ranked right back at No. 3 -- behind the same two guys who were ahead of me after the first day last week.
I’ve benefited by holding on to three of my Final Four teams -- K-State, Kentucky and Baylor, along with West Virginia and Duke. Although I’ve predicted a Duke loss tonight.
And while I’ve got not a single stake left in the midwest bracket, I’ll also be cheering Northern Iowa to the Final Four -- because gosh darn they’ve been fun to watch and that Farokhmanesh kid is pretty dang good.
* * *
Life isn’t nearly as fun if you can’t find laughter in the things that threaten to keep you down …
So it’s been fun to see the outpouring of jokes this week at the expense of KU’s -- ahem -- choke last weekend … (Here's a good read from the KC Star.)
Enjoy.
And finally from Jimmy Fallon …
“Healthcare passed, Tiger did two interviews, and Kansas lost. So if you’re a Republican slut in Topeka…you had a bad weekend.”
3.21.2010
The mourning after
Sigh. I’ve written too many of these types of posts over the years.
My beloved Kansas Jayhawks -- the No. 1-ranked Jayhawks and the overwhelming favorite to win it all -- were dethroned by the feisty No. 9-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers yesterday. My tournament bracket, which shimmered with success after all the first round upsets, is dead. And my interest in the rest of the tournament has been blown to bits.
My bracket also lost out on the Villanova, Murray State and New Mexico games. As of this morning, I sit fifth in the office pool, and I still have three Final Four teams playing, but with Kansas -- my national champion -- out, my stock is sure to drop.
After watching Villanova get knocked out of the tournament, I donned my Jayhawk blue and hit the road to my friend Tom’s house for the big game … Kansas didn’t look good from the start, of course, but I was quick to deny that. Nothing to worry about, it’s only the first half, I said.
But the game’s second half wasn’t any better than the first. Tom and I were on our feet in front of the television for the last 12 minutes, bemoaning every ill-advised shot, mishandled rebound and turnover. Even little Kieran was shouting at the TV and beating his toy drum in frustration, “Oh no! Come on!”
Then, then! With the minutes waning, the Jayhawks showed some fight! They stole two consecutive inbound passes! They closed the deficit to one point! Our hearts were pounding! They had a chance!
And then, as fast as the Jayhawks appeared to have turned a corner, they ran into a wall. Sure, I’d celebrated Ali Farokhmanesh on Thursday night for his performance against UNLV and the game-winning three-pointer he drained to beat them, but I was loathing him last night … With about 30 seconds left in the game, Farokhmanesh brought the ball down by himself and had three -- three! -- Jayhawks circling him. And all three of them left him free to take the shot as though he had a force field bubble protecting him. If there was one guy the Jayhawks shouldn’t have given space to shoot, Farokhmanesh was THAT guy!
Season over.
Within seconds, Kates, who had been watching the game in K-Town and texting me throughout, was calling my cell phone. I looked at the caller ID and rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t she know better?” I said to Tom.
“Hello.” I answered the phone as if someone had just died.
“Are you ok?” Kates asked
“Yeah, I’ll be ok.” I should give her credit -- she knows my Jayhawk passion well enough to immediately offer support in these tough times.
In the minutes afterward, Tom and I wandered the room, lamenting the loss and making comparisons to other Kansas bracket busters. Bradley in ’06. Bucknell in ’05. Syracuse in ’03. Rhode Island in ’98. Arizona in ’97 …“That was brutal” … “That may go down as one of the biggest Kansas chokes” … “I feel like going outside and just burying my head in the snow” ... “Hey, 2008 was fun!” ...
The TV analysts discussed and showed the KU miscues over and over and over. My social media pages started lighting up with messages about busted brackets, crushed hopes and teasing from KU-haters. A Jayhawk nation was stunned and left wondering … how?
The thing is, we know how. We’ve watched this scenario play out again and again for Kansas in the tournament, and it makes me pause every year when I begin to fill out my brackets. Looking back on the season, and past defeats, Tom and I came to the realization that this year’s team lacked a killer instinct. They were complacent. They tended to play to the level of their competition. Joe Posnanski also has a great blog post this morning explaining exactly those themes.
We dined on some homemade tacos and watched Kansas State win its game over BYU with glazed eyes. I’ll be cheering for Kansas State in the tournament now, if only to salvage some pride for the state I love.
By 10 last night I was working my way back to The ’Ville, dealing with the cherry on top of our emotionally challenging day -- 8 inches of snow on the first day of spring, not to mention the start of the university’s spring break … We’d heard the weather forecasts but chose to ignore them. Then the white stuff started falling around 4:30 Friday afternoon, and when I heard the snowplow outside my window yesterday morning, I figured the scenery wasn’t to my liking.
Nonetheless, I ventured onto the roads and handled the weather just fine. I’m from Wisconsin after all! … Coming home last night was a little tougher. By then, several more inches had fallen and I had an amusing time pushing my Little Green Machine through it just to get out of Tom’s neighborhood.
When I hit the Interstate it became apparent that the snowfall must’ve made the Missouri plows too nervous to even clear the roads. But again, I handled it, cruising past the less-confident drivers at a steady 40 mph and proudly displaying my Wisconsin license plate on my rear -- if only for a few more months.
Just when my focus on all the snow had nearly helped me forget the shock and sadness of the Kansas loss, Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” started playing on my iPod and conjured all the images from the game. Ugh.
Oh, but life goes on. Like the others, this loss won’t change my life. And there will be a new season of Kansas basketball to celebrate next year.
Today’s a new day. And baseball’s opening day is just weeks away.
Some good reads about yesterday’s tournament action ...
a Big reason Gaels are moving on
a Kansas, Villanova bust Obama's men's bracket
a Day 3: Kansas Falls, Kentucky Explodes
a Northern Iowa Coolly Upsets No. 1 Seed Kansas
My beloved Kansas Jayhawks -- the No. 1-ranked Jayhawks and the overwhelming favorite to win it all -- were dethroned by the feisty No. 9-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers yesterday. My tournament bracket, which shimmered with success after all the first round upsets, is dead. And my interest in the rest of the tournament has been blown to bits.
My bracket also lost out on the Villanova, Murray State and New Mexico games. As of this morning, I sit fifth in the office pool, and I still have three Final Four teams playing, but with Kansas -- my national champion -- out, my stock is sure to drop.
After watching Villanova get knocked out of the tournament, I donned my Jayhawk blue and hit the road to my friend Tom’s house for the big game … Kansas didn’t look good from the start, of course, but I was quick to deny that. Nothing to worry about, it’s only the first half, I said.
But the game’s second half wasn’t any better than the first. Tom and I were on our feet in front of the television for the last 12 minutes, bemoaning every ill-advised shot, mishandled rebound and turnover. Even little Kieran was shouting at the TV and beating his toy drum in frustration, “Oh no! Come on!”
Then, then! With the minutes waning, the Jayhawks showed some fight! They stole two consecutive inbound passes! They closed the deficit to one point! Our hearts were pounding! They had a chance!
And then, as fast as the Jayhawks appeared to have turned a corner, they ran into a wall. Sure, I’d celebrated Ali Farokhmanesh on Thursday night for his performance against UNLV and the game-winning three-pointer he drained to beat them, but I was loathing him last night … With about 30 seconds left in the game, Farokhmanesh brought the ball down by himself and had three -- three! -- Jayhawks circling him. And all three of them left him free to take the shot as though he had a force field bubble protecting him. If there was one guy the Jayhawks shouldn’t have given space to shoot, Farokhmanesh was THAT guy!
Season over.
Within seconds, Kates, who had been watching the game in K-Town and texting me throughout, was calling my cell phone. I looked at the caller ID and rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t she know better?” I said to Tom.
“Hello.” I answered the phone as if someone had just died.
“Are you ok?” Kates asked
“Yeah, I’ll be ok.” I should give her credit -- she knows my Jayhawk passion well enough to immediately offer support in these tough times.
In the minutes afterward, Tom and I wandered the room, lamenting the loss and making comparisons to other Kansas bracket busters. Bradley in ’06. Bucknell in ’05. Syracuse in ’03. Rhode Island in ’98. Arizona in ’97 …“That was brutal” … “That may go down as one of the biggest Kansas chokes” … “I feel like going outside and just burying my head in the snow” ... “Hey, 2008 was fun!” ...
The TV analysts discussed and showed the KU miscues over and over and over. My social media pages started lighting up with messages about busted brackets, crushed hopes and teasing from KU-haters. A Jayhawk nation was stunned and left wondering … how?
The thing is, we know how. We’ve watched this scenario play out again and again for Kansas in the tournament, and it makes me pause every year when I begin to fill out my brackets. Looking back on the season, and past defeats, Tom and I came to the realization that this year’s team lacked a killer instinct. They were complacent. They tended to play to the level of their competition. Joe Posnanski also has a great blog post this morning explaining exactly those themes.
We dined on some homemade tacos and watched Kansas State win its game over BYU with glazed eyes. I’ll be cheering for Kansas State in the tournament now, if only to salvage some pride for the state I love.
By 10 last night I was working my way back to The ’Ville, dealing with the cherry on top of our emotionally challenging day -- 8 inches of snow on the first day of spring, not to mention the start of the university’s spring break … We’d heard the weather forecasts but chose to ignore them. Then the white stuff started falling around 4:30 Friday afternoon, and when I heard the snowplow outside my window yesterday morning, I figured the scenery wasn’t to my liking.
Nonetheless, I ventured onto the roads and handled the weather just fine. I’m from Wisconsin after all! … Coming home last night was a little tougher. By then, several more inches had fallen and I had an amusing time pushing my Little Green Machine through it just to get out of Tom’s neighborhood.
When I hit the Interstate it became apparent that the snowfall must’ve made the Missouri plows too nervous to even clear the roads. But again, I handled it, cruising past the less-confident drivers at a steady 40 mph and proudly displaying my Wisconsin license plate on my rear -- if only for a few more months.
Just when my focus on all the snow had nearly helped me forget the shock and sadness of the Kansas loss, Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” started playing on my iPod and conjured all the images from the game. Ugh.
Oh, but life goes on. Like the others, this loss won’t change my life. And there will be a new season of Kansas basketball to celebrate next year.
Today’s a new day. And baseball’s opening day is just weeks away.
Some good reads about yesterday’s tournament action ...
a Big reason Gaels are moving on
a Kansas, Villanova bust Obama's men's bracket
a Day 3: Kansas Falls, Kentucky Explodes
a Northern Iowa Coolly Upsets No. 1 Seed Kansas
3.19.2010
Maddening good!
I don't want to brag but ...
As today’s NCAA Tournament first round games wrap up … I’m sitting happily in a three-way tie for first place in the Funnest Office Pool Ever, which, for the record, has 60 entrants this year. What’s more interesting is that the three of us at the top are former employees of the place.
Given the number of upsets -- and my knack to pick them -- I was having a ball watching tonight’s games (I was monitoring the changes in our pool's standings online like a stock broker watching the market). I picked correctly on Northern Iowa, Murray State, Wake Forest and St. Mary’s. And I didn’t bite on other trendy upset picks, like UTEP over Butler, or San Diego State over Tennessee.
Only the Notre Dame and Marquette losses were upsets I never saw coming … I had picked Georgetown to advance to the Elite Eight on some influence from my mother -- even though my gut told me Ohio State was the better pick; “Don’t count out Georgetown!” she said. Aye. Should, woulda, coulda.
This afternoon, work kept me from seeing the double-overtime BYU-Florida game (I accurately picked BYU), and that Notre Dame-Old Dominion thriller … But tonight’s games more than made up for them. Every game left me holding my breath!
In that Texas-Wake Forest game, Texas started running all over Wake in overtime, and I figured it was over when Wake went down by eight; Texas was cleaning up. But Wake somehow worked its way back into the game and then won it with a last second two-pointer that sent me dancing around my living room.
And Northern Iowa! It took me little time to fall in love with the play of Ali Farokhmanesh and that team’s scrappiness. When Farokhmanesh hit that winning three-pointer from waaaaay behind the arc, I erupted in a cheer loud enough make me the obnoxious and annoying neighbor of my apartment building.
Still, as fun as it was today, I know it's still early. And my story might be completely different tomorrow.
Traditionally, I’m fairly liberal with my upset picks, sometimes too liberal probably. But this year that appears to be working to my advantage.
I had started filling out my brackets on Monday night but stopped halfway, completely and utterly confused about the direction I was heading (Good thing, too. In my original bracket I had Florida and Richmond winning today.) … So I let my thoughts wander on Tuesday and Wednesday. I continued listening to the gurus on ESPN. I continued to pour over the records and articles in USA Today.
I was still waffling on my bracket as the clock moved into Thursday, having watched the “Idol” results show and proofing 60 magazine pages. Finally at around 12:30 a.m., I completed my bracket with Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Kentucky as my Final Four picks …
In a nutshell, I called my shot to Kates weeks ago, predicting Kansas and Syracuse in the championship game. Now, with the way the brackets are set up, Kansas and Syracuse could only face each other in the Final Four’s semi-final … Even then, Syracuse has faltered down the stretch and they’ve been hurt by injuries. Also, the Big East hasn’t lived up to its hype in the tournament in recent years, and the Big 12, arguably, has been the toughest and most competitive conference in the nation this year -- hence my endorsements for Kansas State and Baylor in the Final Four.
As I have every year, I’ve inserted Kansas in my Final Four with some trepidation -- because, as any Kansas fan knows, their play in the tournament hasn’t always lived up to the hype of their regular seasons (I'm feeling lucky they made it past LeHigh tonight). And yet, here I am, staying loyal and believing again that this could be “the year,” putting them as the national champion in my bracket over Kentucky.
For the record, me, my mother and 30 others have Kansas winning it all in our pool. Nine have picked Kentucky.
We’ll see.
Some good reads ...
a Day 1 at the Dance: Utter Madness
a Wherever he has coached, Self preaches a “magic level”
a Collins’ four years at KU have seen huge growth and change
a Jayhawks may be No. 1, but they can't take it easy
a Kansas is my favorite, but its road to Indy is chock full of roadblocks
a They’re all in it to win it, but a final of Kansas-Kentucky would be shining moment
a NCAA tournament committee had large at-large pool of shallow talent
a More Parity Atop the Bracket, but Less Talent on the Bubble
a A gazillion chances to miss a pick
a Near perfect: 79% got Villanova title in '85
As today’s NCAA Tournament first round games wrap up … I’m sitting happily in a three-way tie for first place in the Funnest Office Pool Ever, which, for the record, has 60 entrants this year. What’s more interesting is that the three of us at the top are former employees of the place.
Given the number of upsets -- and my knack to pick them -- I was having a ball watching tonight’s games (I was monitoring the changes in our pool's standings online like a stock broker watching the market). I picked correctly on Northern Iowa, Murray State, Wake Forest and St. Mary’s. And I didn’t bite on other trendy upset picks, like UTEP over Butler, or San Diego State over Tennessee.
Only the Notre Dame and Marquette losses were upsets I never saw coming … I had picked Georgetown to advance to the Elite Eight on some influence from my mother -- even though my gut told me Ohio State was the better pick; “Don’t count out Georgetown!” she said. Aye. Should, woulda, coulda.
This afternoon, work kept me from seeing the double-overtime BYU-Florida game (I accurately picked BYU), and that Notre Dame-Old Dominion thriller … But tonight’s games more than made up for them. Every game left me holding my breath!
In that Texas-Wake Forest game, Texas started running all over Wake in overtime, and I figured it was over when Wake went down by eight; Texas was cleaning up. But Wake somehow worked its way back into the game and then won it with a last second two-pointer that sent me dancing around my living room.
And Northern Iowa! It took me little time to fall in love with the play of Ali Farokhmanesh and that team’s scrappiness. When Farokhmanesh hit that winning three-pointer from waaaaay behind the arc, I erupted in a cheer loud enough make me the obnoxious and annoying neighbor of my apartment building.
Still, as fun as it was today, I know it's still early. And my story might be completely different tomorrow.
Traditionally, I’m fairly liberal with my upset picks, sometimes too liberal probably. But this year that appears to be working to my advantage.
I had started filling out my brackets on Monday night but stopped halfway, completely and utterly confused about the direction I was heading (Good thing, too. In my original bracket I had Florida and Richmond winning today.) … So I let my thoughts wander on Tuesday and Wednesday. I continued listening to the gurus on ESPN. I continued to pour over the records and articles in USA Today.
I was still waffling on my bracket as the clock moved into Thursday, having watched the “Idol” results show and proofing 60 magazine pages. Finally at around 12:30 a.m., I completed my bracket with Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Kentucky as my Final Four picks …
In a nutshell, I called my shot to Kates weeks ago, predicting Kansas and Syracuse in the championship game. Now, with the way the brackets are set up, Kansas and Syracuse could only face each other in the Final Four’s semi-final … Even then, Syracuse has faltered down the stretch and they’ve been hurt by injuries. Also, the Big East hasn’t lived up to its hype in the tournament in recent years, and the Big 12, arguably, has been the toughest and most competitive conference in the nation this year -- hence my endorsements for Kansas State and Baylor in the Final Four.
As I have every year, I’ve inserted Kansas in my Final Four with some trepidation -- because, as any Kansas fan knows, their play in the tournament hasn’t always lived up to the hype of their regular seasons (I'm feeling lucky they made it past LeHigh tonight). And yet, here I am, staying loyal and believing again that this could be “the year,” putting them as the national champion in my bracket over Kentucky.
For the record, me, my mother and 30 others have Kansas winning it all in our pool. Nine have picked Kentucky.
We’ll see.
Some good reads ...
a Day 1 at the Dance: Utter Madness
a Wherever he has coached, Self preaches a “magic level”
a Collins’ four years at KU have seen huge growth and change
a Jayhawks may be No. 1, but they can't take it easy
a Kansas is my favorite, but its road to Indy is chock full of roadblocks
a They’re all in it to win it, but a final of Kansas-Kentucky would be shining moment
a NCAA tournament committee had large at-large pool of shallow talent
a More Parity Atop the Bracket, but Less Talent on the Bubble
a A gazillion chances to miss a pick
a Near perfect: 79% got Villanova title in '85
2.07.2010
Yeah, right
I stopped my Sunday Reading posts long ago ...
But these were too good to not post them here ...
First, from The Boston Globe ... Do we need a new punctuation mark?
Then, there's this one from John Feinstein -- about a proposal that deserves one of those SarcMarks. Feinstein makes an excellent case against a 96-team field, which, unfortunately like everything these days, is being fueled by money.
The 64-team field (Seriously. The 65th team is not part of the field ... ) is one of the most perfect numbers in all of sports. Adding more teams, which would mean more games spread over a longer period, would only dilute the tournament and turn off viewers. The notion of ESPN seizing the tournament and likely moving a chunk of the games to cable also would limit the scope of fans that make the tournament such a national event -- on CBS!.
Hey, I love Big Monday on ESPN ... But the notion of cable television's version of the New York Yankees owning the tournament makes my skin crawl.
I'd rather not imagine a tournament without Jim Nantz and Billy Packer calling the games. Or a tournament with ESPN replacing the sweet "One Shining Moment" montage with some god-awful super-charged montage -- that moves so fast it hurts your eyes -- set to a Rihanna song.
Ugh.
While I'm at it, here's the "One Shining Moment" video from 2008 -- after one of the greatest games ever! ... It still brings tears to my eyes.
But these were too good to not post them here ...
First, from The Boston Globe ... Do we need a new punctuation mark?
Then, there's this one from John Feinstein -- about a proposal that deserves one of those SarcMarks. Feinstein makes an excellent case against a 96-team field, which, unfortunately like everything these days, is being fueled by money.
The 64-team field (Seriously. The 65th team is not part of the field ... ) is one of the most perfect numbers in all of sports. Adding more teams, which would mean more games spread over a longer period, would only dilute the tournament and turn off viewers. The notion of ESPN seizing the tournament and likely moving a chunk of the games to cable also would limit the scope of fans that make the tournament such a national event -- on CBS!.
Hey, I love Big Monday on ESPN ... But the notion of cable television's version of the New York Yankees owning the tournament makes my skin crawl.
I'd rather not imagine a tournament without Jim Nantz and Billy Packer calling the games. Or a tournament with ESPN replacing the sweet "One Shining Moment" montage with some god-awful super-charged montage -- that moves so fast it hurts your eyes -- set to a Rihanna song.
Ugh.
While I'm at it, here's the "One Shining Moment" video from 2008 -- after one of the greatest games ever! ... It still brings tears to my eyes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)