One for the Ages!

I don't remember a better game in the finals. Maybe the '82 game when a Georgetown player threw the ball to James Worthy. Tonight they both made great plays. I don't know how to set up the voting, but we should vote on Will's heart rate as that final shot bounced off the rim.
Congratulations to Dodie to prove that graduation rates can count. Next year I am going to have a Southern Fried Grad Rate team. It could beat the Chicken Curse.
Unless you are a Duke fan please join me in the Official Slogan of the South Carolina Gamecocks -- "Wait 'til next year!"
Clarkson
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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Honk!! Honk!! Yeah Baby. Honk!

The sounds of Durham tonight. If "Hoosiers" were real and not a movie that last shot is one-quarter inch to the left. Truly a game that either team could have one. But tonight was painted Duke Blue, not Butler Blue. If that coach stays there, Butler will have its night. Burn Baby Burn!!

a great game

I define a great game as any game that keeps me awake after 10:30--and this was a great game.  I cheered for Butler all the way, but I had to admire both teams.  The commentators said before the game that butler needed to keep Duke's scoring below 60 and they sure did come close! I think I heard Will cheering all the way from Durham.  Congratulations Laura Mish!

Next year....

When all else fails, there is always tradition

I have actually only seen about 15 total minutes of the tournament (really, of the entire 2009-2010 basketball season). And I'm not watching the game tonight because I'm (trying) to help Thomas with an Initial Brief of Appellant for an appeals case. While I do prefer what I'm doing to what you guys are doing, I am grateful for all of the on-line chatter to keep me company while I work.

One of the original polls this year was about why people participate in McDow Hoops, with one of the options involving hating Duke and one option being a slave to tradition (paraphrased, a bit). The current poll is about how much you hate Duke. With no actual knowledge about the teams - as evidenced by BOTH of my brackets - I am going to rely on tradition and cheer for Not Duke, which I believe would be Butler.

MC

The Final Game

This has been a great tournament with enough upsets to last a lifetime. The writting has improved as the brackets tank. One gains a little humility as his vast knowledge of the game loses to someone who picks Vermont to the final four because her friend lives there.
There are good reasons to be for either of these schools. My preference for underdogs makes me love Butler. While I could pull against Will's team, I have to be on Laura Mish's side. Therefore, I am pulling for Duke. Don't worry about the Chicken Curse because the Gamecocks hate Duke so much from their ACC days Duke is immune to the curse. Butler is pretty good and could win this thing, but don't count on it. So for Laura Mish, "Go Duke."
Clarkson
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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Chatter

At the half and Butler's hanging in there. Predictions?

Get me a barf bag

See post below.

Memories of 1999-2000

Will and Nell's posts have inspired me to weigh in on my allegiances this evening. From mid-1999 to mid-2000, Meredith worked for a Duke-associated nonprofit in Durham, N.C. I visited her about twice a month. We were surrounded by Duke fans (including Will), the team had a lot of memorable players (Battier, Boozer, Dunleavy), and we were invited to numerous parties to watch the games, both regular season and tournament. Will even scored tickets for us one evening, and we sat with him in the grad student section and cheered wildly. As most of you know, I don't really care about basketball at all. And I think that, as a general rule, high-level NCAA sports have exerted a corrupting influence on these supposedly nonprofit colleges. For one thing, it's hard to believe that all of this revenue isn't taxable! It's also hard to believe that these major sporting events have anything to do with the overall collegiate mission. Finally, I wonder what lessons these students learn from their exposure to constant recruiting violations, perks that operate as a kind of under-the-table payment, and "tutors" at certain programs who complete all or most of the players' classwork. Since I don't have any ties to NCAA sports -- other than being the former roommate of an NCAA cheerleader -- I participate in the pool for the fun of the pool itself. Mainly it's fun to hang out with McDows and associates, even if only on line. But part of the fun is rooting for underdogs and rooting against teams like Duke. When all is said and done, after giving it some thought today, I've decided that my fond memories of Duke-rooting in 1999-2000 outweigh the general principles that favor rooting against Duke. Go Duke!

The underdog

I'm pulling for the underdog tonight. That's right, the little engine, the David, the Cinderella. I'm pulling for that one. Who better fits that profile than Laura Mishler. For the non-McDow's, Laura Mish is 6 years old but was born 11 weeks early at 2lbs 3ozs. When it comes to bball, she picked Vermont in the final game because her best friend lives there. and she picked any school from Texas because her aupair was talking about moving to Texas. Those picks didn't work out so well and she hovered in the celler. But now she is on the verge of winning the McDow Hoops Challenge, assuming we all disqualify method brackets. Sorry Dode - you are a Goliath. So I'm pulling for the underdog. All it takes for her to win is a Duke victory. If I must for my daughter, I'll pull for Duke. And when she's asleep and the TV turned up loud, I'll sing a quiet little "Go to Hell Carolina, Go to Hell" just for the fun of it and because this is not March 2009 anymore. Go DUKE. Will PS - If one more person says what a small school Butler is, please remind them that Duke only has 300 more undergrads than Butler does. It's not about the size of your school. [It does help to have a large athletic budget...]

Mandatory Smack

With a bracket that has Butler to take it all, I feel obligated to provide some clever smack talk to all you losers, many who have had no possible points remaining since before the final four.  The difficulty is that the bracket in which I chose teams that I actually thought might win, puts me in that loser category with the rest of you.  It is hard to talk smack when you make choices on a set criterion and not from the heart or the head. Yet I do have one of the last remaining brackets and I reluctantly must brag and point out my obvious superiority.  And I think that I might be wise to do that while I still can!  My only hope is that  this is not the year of the K's---Kansas, Kentucky, Kansas State and Coach K.

 And then, there is always next year.

Nell

With Duke in the final I'm happy...

for Will. But I'm sad for America. I guess that's a wash.

Duke v. Butler!

It's down to the last game Monday night. My wife's Alma Mater (Duke) against the biggest surprise finalist in my memory. And Dodie's grades bracket against Nell's wins bracket and Maggie Lou's bracket trying to hold onto a piece of first place. Good luck!

Duke vs WVU

From the bracket point of view, I've got some insulation. In my two
brackets that are still hanging near the top of the pack, I have Duke
winning the whole she-bang in one of them, and West Virginia taking it
all in the other. Let's see what happens...

Sweet 96

Am I the last guy in the country to hear about this crazy idea -- a 96-team bracket? Article here.

Beginning of Basketball Withdrawl

Every year, just as the azeleas begin to bloom in the south I get that sad, sad feeling. Like a friend going away to school while I'm left at home with nothing to do. There's only three basketball games left in the year. This time two weeks ago, there were four games starting every 2 hours. And my bracket. Two weeks ago I had a bracket. So fresh and young and unblemished. But with the end of basketball, there's always something else exciting and new. Like long email chains that have been passed from computer to computer, picking up grease stains and unwanted pathogens. In honor of what we have to look forward to for six long months, I've posted one such email below. Enjoy. PS - Some of these are cute. And who doesn't like a well crafted insult? "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde 'He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.' - Abraham Lincoln A Member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."