See ya later, Raskin!

See ya later, Greggie Boy! See ya later, Ol' Cat-Stew! Maggie Lou, you can thank your wise old dad any time you please. Even better, Meredith and I will be in California on April 4, at her dad's house, where we will actually get to watch one of these games, in a room full of 'Nova fans!

Villanova

My bracket has Duke beating Pittsburgh and going to the Final Four, so in order to get back in the running I need Villanova to beat Pittsburgh. This strategy agrees with Meredith, since her father, uncle, aunt, and cousins attended Villanova. (Her first cousins currently own and run "Kelly's," a Villanova bar/hangout.) So here's hoping that Raskin and Maggie Lou will shed some more tears tonight! I join Raskin's call for more smack. In particular, how did Leonhardt's lunatic post about Yale hockey slide through with barely a responding peep? Perhaps because most McDows were hanging out in Rock Hill that weekend, riding horses and pickup trucks instead of tending their blog. I hate to beat up on Raskin since I live in New York with him and have ample opportunity to beat up on him here. But if Villanova wins maybe I'll take another crack at him.

If there's a silver lining in this

it's that with Syracuse being so academically tough, it's important for the players to get back to their studies.

Ugh. Now I know what Duke fans feel like.

Losing by 20. Syracuse playing like they were surprised to have to play today.

halftime

and Syracuse has played one of its worst halves of the year. 0-9 on 3s. No energy. No transition game. But missing lay-ups, as usual.

Is it just me or

does the SU-Oklahoma game that we're all definitely watching right now feel weirdly low-energy? I've noticed crowds at these NCAA games are not full. Or maybe it's just the zone play. But Syracuse anyway needs a shot of adrenaline.

Flame retardant uniforms?

I was already nervous about Syracuse's game against Oklahoma, but now I worry for the Orange's safety. See video starting around 25 seconds in... That has to be illegal.

Father Knows Best

Maggie Lou will be thanking you when Villanova beats Pittsburgh.

SuperNova?

Isn't a supernova an imploding star?  I hope the shoe fits.

But from what I've seen, they'll continue to shine.

SuperNova!

I just wanted to beat the ESPN headline writers to the punch, assuming this keeps up. And if I just jinxed Nova, then that's my gift to Will. UPDATE: Things looking very bad tonight for Clarkson. Pops picked a Memphis-Duke final. That's called love. And love hurts.

RE: Chuck Stew Called the Tiger Stew

That half court shot by Mizzou covered more distance than all of Duke's first half field goals. Let's see if Coach K earns his gold in this one. 'Nova's good, very good, but I'm still hopeful that Clarkson picked this one correctly. Go Memphis!! Where else can you beat your feet in the mississippi mud?

Chuck Stew Called the Tiger Stew

Chuck may not want to start strutting yet, but unless Memphis can get
their feet out of the mud and come a long way back (did any one see
the 60-foot shot Missouri swished at the end of the first half?),
Chuck will be the only one in the top half of our pool to have called
this one correctly.

Father Knows Best

Maggie Lou will be thanking you when Duke beats Pittsburgh.

Stressful but ultimately satisfying

Maggie Lou and I are breathing sighs of relief as our beloved Panthers squeaked by Xavier.

Maggie Lou Made Me Write This

I made a mistake.  A big mistake.  A mistake that made my daughter cry.  What did I do?  I screwed up her bracket.  

Maggie put great faith in the NCAA seeding.  She called few upsets.  She stuck with the teams that she liked.  Connecticut because she was born a Connecticut Yankee (despite her strong paternal line).  Pittsburgh because her beloved second grade teacher is from Pittsburgh (they got extra credit for wearing black and gold during NFL season; a class pep rally picture was in a Pittsburgh newspaper for the Superbowl).  And Louisville because of her middle name (but she would not let me name her bracket MaggieLouisville).  Maybe it was this last word play, maybe it was a mis-mouse, but when I entered her bracket, I put Louisville as her champion.  It was supposed to be Pittsburgh.  When she found this out, talking her bracket over with Chuck, she was crestfallen.  And by crestfallen, I mean awash in tears and angry.  She confronted me.  I wasn't sure.  I dodged.  But them we looked at the bracket and saw the handwriting.  She was right, and I was wrong.

So, regardless of what happens tonight with Pitt or in the rest of the tournament, Maggie wants the record to show that she picked Pitt to win the championship.  (She doesn't know that she should be wary of Raskin's picks.)

I will take up the philosophical problem of ad alma materum responses and Georgia Tech's high academic standards in a future post.

When is brunch?

Today's big game is Villanova-Duke. Late game though, so everybody should try to steal a nap - especially those in the 45+ range. Stew-Baller did a nice job coming to Raskin's defense. I can respect non-confrontational smack. Very Roanoke College... I'm all for peace, love, and understanding, but I'd be more impressed by Stew-Baller's alma mater if they also learned basic information about meal-times...

Wannabe Virginia

I'm just going to let the President respond to those "Morgansville" haters.

Not safe for kids

Thank you, Mountaineer fans.

Low quality

The quality of smack talk on this site is dismal this year. What's up with everyone? I wait all year to get abused by you people...

Midweek Yale Hockey Recap

In case you missed the Yale hockey comeback Dave was talking about:

roster

Well, GT signed five 'top 75' (or so) recruits for next year, including the #1 recruit in the nation, so I am even more hopeful for next year than I was for this year.  This year, we lost two big men, our most prolific scorer was out some for academic probation (GT is so tough academically that even the athletes get bad grades sometimes), and our best leader and defender discovered he had a congenital spinal defect and had to get surgery at the start of the season, missing the whole thing. 

The only downfall for next year is that Lauren has convinced me it's not worth buying season tickets.  What an awful time to come to that conclusion!

Randolph

In case you were wondering

In case you were wondering exactly what sweet lullaby Clarkson was singing to his granddaughter, The Citadel Ramble fight song goes like this:

The Citadel has a bulldog With short and grizzly hair. Carolina has a gamecock-- Now wouldn't they make a pair? And when they get together There's bound to be a scrap. Just watch that Citadel Bulldog Wipe that gamecock off the map!

CHORUS

Oh! they rambled, they rambled. They rambled all around. In and out of town, Oh! they rambled, they rambled. They rambled 'till the Bulldogs cut `em down.

Must have been hard for Clarkson when he then went to USC for law school.

Which conference will be the biggest loser?

Piers was nice to send the post about the big loser conferences. While the Big (L)east, the Big 10 or whatever, the Big 12, the PAC 10, and the ACC have all done well in the early rounds, I am willing to bet anyone who will accept a modest wager that each of these schools will lose significantly more games than the more modest SEC. It is my prediction that each of these conferences will lose twice as many games as the SEC. Without sounding too much like Thomas though we share the same genes, I will note that many of these schools have abysmal graduation rates. The fabled UConn Huskies only graduate 23% of their African American players and only do slightly better with the team as a whole, graduating 30%. When they go pro in something other than sports it may not be a pretty sight. Looking back at posts from last year, I noticed that Randolph took solace last year by noting that Georgia Tech had signed some hotshot prospect. I didn't see that helping this year, but that is beside the point. It gave him hope. This year with no teams in the tournament, I devoted my efforts in building a better future for America. I taught my grand daughter Ella The Citadel Ramble Song. She woke up in the middle of the night last night and I went to check on her. Everything was fine and she was going back to sleep and I was tiptoeing out of the room when she said, "Pops, would you sing the 'Ramble Song' before you go?" Of course I obliged her that small request. Seeing a new generation of McDows this weekend, gives me faith in the future. Now, if we can get a few W's for my bracket this coming weekend, I will have it made. If not, I still have the four best grandchildren in the history of the world. Clarkson

BigEastDream or BigEastReality?

From espn.com article:

How are conferences faring?

Conference	Teams	W-L	Sweet 16
Big East	7	11-2	5
Big Ten	7	6-5	2
ACC	7	5-5	2
Big 12	6	9-3	3
Pac-10	6	6-5	1
Atlantic 10	3	3-2	1
SEC	3	1-3	0
Horizon	2	1-2	0
Mountain West	2	0-2	0

Ugh

I'm tied with Leonhardt, losing to Maggie Lou (but she's a ringer) and my potential-points-remaining pool looks more like a motor-oil-filled puddle. My only solace is that my Pitt Panthers have managed to not choke yet. That and the fact that the view from 19th place probably looks pretty good if you're Dodie.

Hockey

Dave, if that post doesn't bring back fond memories of slapping the ol' puck across the frozen pond during South Carolina's bitter winter months, I don't know what will.

Yale Wins!

This will doubtless bring smack raining down, but on Friday night I watched one of the most exciting NCAA games I've ever seen. It just happened to be hockey. Trailing St. Lawrence 3-2 with 1:30 left in the game, Yale pulled its goalie and then scored twice in 30 seconds to win 4-3. Last night, the most common alma mater on this blog (right? or does Tech somehow have larger numbers?)  trounced Cornell 5-0 for its first-ever ECAC title. Yale was ranked 7th in the country going into the tourney and may now crack the top 5. Notre Dame is #1. The NCAA tourney starts next weekend.

Yes, I'm trying to distract people from my bracket entry...

No argument here

I'll be glad to see the Tar Heels fall... so long as Duke is gone, too. (Duke's one saving grace is that Jim Boeheim seems to like Coach K, but I think it *must* be an act.) I just never could get excited about the ACC. I love the "Memphis State" reference. Those were the good old days. Keith Lee was one of my favorite all-time college hoopsters. (Limited pro career, though.) I'm jazzed today. Not because Syracuse is playing at noon. Not because I got a *great* night's sleep thanks to the McDows taking on my children for the weekend (THANK YOU!). But because Abby made a very strong pot of coffee this morning. My brain and large intestine are on edge.

Go to Hell North Carolina

I was at basketball games screaming, "Pook on Dook," before most of the people reading this were born, but when Will went to Duke for graduate school I had a change of heart.  As for North Carolina, I pulled slightly for them today because our President picked them and who wants our President to look bad other than Rush Limbaugh and his band of ditto heads sometimes known as the Republican Party.  North Carolina completely ruined at least a decade of basketball with  its four corners.  How would you like to watch a weekend or two of that?  Yet no one has suggested that anyone should apologize for being one of their fans.  I will admit to liking the game but I am a pragmatist.  On  my bracket they make it to the finals but fall to Memphis State.

 

If you mean, is it your

turn finally to apologize for being a Duke fan... Sure, anytime. UPDATE** -- Oh, when the previous post first appeared it had just the title and appeared to be from Will. My bad Clarkson... I'd never call you out like that.

Is it my turn yet?

I did not miss a game today but still lost ground in the pool.  Captain 'Cuse remains alone in his lofty post at the top of a rather motley group of pickers. many of whom seem more a home with the nose than the bracket.  Tied for second is Lauren who can pick free from sentiment because she only cares for Georgia Tech who had no chance of engaging in post season play.  There is another  guy in second who thinks it cute to kick the SEC while it is down, while failing to choose A-10 teams in his bracket.  The most amazing feat in the  history of  sMaCkDOWn is Thomas, a confessed baseball fan who disdains basketball, but is tied for second after three full days of play.  As we know anyone can luck up and be in second but how  does one end up in second in the middle of the second round and have only 420 possible points remaining?  

I may be tied for 23rd and Captain 'Cuse may be in first but my turn is coming.  Today I failed to take Satchell Paige's advice.  As you may recall, he said,  "Don't look back.  Somebody might be gaining on you."  Well, today I looked back and there was no one there.  But as Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day."  

Clarkson

Is it my turn yet?

Gonzaga

Not a good year for the West Coast. I'm now stuck rooting for Gonzaga, a team from Eastern Washington, which is more or less Idaho. Snowy, sparsely populated... and the few people who do live there vote Republican. I've been inspired by the groundswell in favor of comments, and have switched my vote from nay to yea. But if we do wind up enabling comments, I hope people don't bury a great post in a comment field.

Age Grouping

I should also be in the [15-30] age grouping. The mistake was an easy one...given the maturity of my picks.

 

I noticed that nobody mistakenly put in a younger age bracket has come forward...

 

Erin Fitzpatrick

Surrogate Smack Talker

Mook,

Thanks for talking some smack on my behalf!

Since Will suggested that we Georgians relax about basketball and just
post pictures of our kid, I'll take him up on that. Chuck, since I
snuck up on you in your age bracket, the picture is of Eston showing
off his hat from his second favorite team that is not in the tournament.

I'm not sure whether picture attachments will show up on the blog from
an email, but I'm giving it a shot.

Lauren

Age Grouping

There was a typo in the age-grouping Chuck - Lauren is also in your 15-30. And she's beating you.

A Matter of Faith

I notice that despite Jeff's lip service to the A-10 with his bracket, he couldn't even bring himself to pick the upset on West VA. Asleep Forest's loss last night really put a dent in my bracket, as did FSU and Northern Iowa's demise. As per usual, I'm sitting in the middle of the field, looking to make a late run. But I seem to have taken a commanding lead on the 15-30 age group (consisting of the two Jenkins).

Not about winning

I would try to reassure Thomas that this pool is not about winning, but when he picked FSU to win it all he showed he already knew that. There's lots to root for: the ACC's demise, for one! Randy, I'm pretty sure Lawrence is a Division III basketball squad, so I'm not sure how excited you should be that GTech has a better team than Lawrence...

Irony or upsets versus solid picks

I made some gutsy choices that won. #11 Dayton, #12 Arizona, #9 Texas A&M, #10 Maryland, #12 Western Kentucky, #10 Michigan, and #9 Sienna. I am tied for second with absolutely no chance of winning and maybe no chance of the top 90%..

Why don’t I have a chance to win? I went with two safe choices, #4 Wake Forrest and #5 Florida State and they both lost. I figured if Florida State could eliminate Georgia Tech from the ACC tournament, they must be the best team in the nation so I picked them to win it all. I notice Randolph did not follow that logic. I certainly overrated the ACC to my everlasting regret.

Lucy and I returned to baseball tonight, taking Mary Croom, Luis, and Franklin to Winthrop’s game against arch rival Coastal Carolina. Winthrop lost 7-2 but we left before Coastal scored the seventh run.

Sorry for the bitter rant but I need to get back to bridge where at least if I lose it is on my own bidding and play rather than some twenty-year-old kid.

Thomas F. McDow

Cheesehead?

Call me a cheesehead!!!!!!