Thursday, March 17, 2005

Day One Recap


The Sucking Effortlessly Conference
A few notes on the day as a whole:

- It was a bad opener for the SEC as they went 1-2 and saw things get progressively worse as the day went on. Kentucky barely got by a #15 seed, Alabama was finished off by a #12, and LSU got hammered by the UAB Blazers. They need Florida and Mississippi State to come up big and salvage some pride tomorrow.

- 13 higher seeds won, which helps explain why it was so boring.

- C-USA is halfway to getting their redemption. Cincinnati destroyed a hot Iowa team and UAB crushed a legit sleeper in LSU. I told you this league got jacked by the committee.

- Mid Majors quietly had a nice day. In showdowns between mids and major conference teams, the little guys (or "medium-sized" guys, I suppose) went 4-3 behind big wins by Nevada, UW-Milwaukee, UAB, and Pacific. Utah and Gonzaga also won, but they were playing other mid-major or small conference teams. And when you consider that the St. Mary's-Southern Illinois matchup will produce another mid-major winner, the Midwest region will feature four mids in the second round. Not bad at all.

- I always fall for a freshman point guard in the tourney (Chris Thomas, Chris Hill, Chris Paul ... wow, all named Chris!) and was all set to jump on either the Ronald Steele or Daniel Gibson bandwagon, but alas, their teams choked. So the search continues.

Let's all hope that tomorrow produces a little more magic. In the meantime let me recommend a book (Torture the Artist by Joey Goeble), a CD (Sunrise over Sea by John Butler Trio), and a movie (Riding Giants). Sorry, that was random.

8 comments:

Branden Higa said...

If you are watching the NC St v. Charlotte game right now, check out Charlotte's head coach Bobby Lutz. He has a sweet 'stache. I can't beleive his wife would let him out of the house with that thing on.

While we are on the subject of 'stache's, Does Andrew Bogut have one or did some low flying squirrel get stuck in his grill???

Dude, NC state is getting it handed to them. Hey coach, stop the bleeding... Put in Robert Turner!!!

Adam Hoff said...

You definitely beat me to the Lutz stache breakdown. It looks like it was drawn with pencil ... by a blind person.

No suprise that Charlotte is bringing it. Conference USA is this year's revenge play - the whole league got screwed by the tournament committee and now they are coming out swinging.

Here in Chicago, they've switched to Iowa State v. Minnesota. If you get any of this game in your area, check out Curtis Stinson. He's a sophomore doomed to go in the early second round of the draft, ala Gilbert Arenas. The dude can't shoot three's yet, but tell me there aren't some similarities? Too bad Billy Packer has to ruin it by constantly saying how "incredibly strong" Stinson is. It's reminiscent of last year's tourney when he wouldn't shut up about the "big, strong hands" of Oklahoma State's Joey Graham and Tony Allen. I hate that guy.

Branden Higa said...

That Minni-Iowa State game is something else. I have never seen two teams in such a hurry to throw the ball against the backboard. Its a straight clankfest. It looks exactly like a 4th grade basketball game. lost of people dribbling with their heads down, lots of people turning the ball over and a lot of bad shooting. Geez coaches, reign your players in, this is embarassing.

On a different note, you have got to listen for the 'tens' of Minnesota fans hooping and hollering for their squad. If you turn the volume up, you will barely be able to hear some kids doing all the classic crowd support stuff. The constant yelling, the humming of songs. I bet if they panned the camera to the Minn student section you would see about 8 people jumping up and down the entire game. So either all the Minnesota fans just kept on driving down to Daytone for Spring Break (the correct call) or like one Duke fan got there early to warm up.

Speaking of Spring Break, I can't wait for the CBS mad efor TV movie 'Spring Break Shark Attack'. If the script is as creative as the title of the flick, it should have Emmy written all over it. Iam sure 'Extreme Homemakeover: Home Edition' is quaking in their Red Wings having to go up against that tomorrow night.

Anonymous said...

Dude, you are right, Brent Musberger sounded offended when he had to drop a plug for that Spring Break Shark Attack movie.

Keep up the good work guys! You are keeping me entertained!

Adam Hoff said...

Whoops. I guess Charlotte wasn't out for payback after all. What a gag job. The players must have caught sight of their coach's stache and lost hope.

In other news, yet another #15 seed is playing a #2 tough. That makes three straight, as Chattanooga led Wake midway through the second half and Eastern Kentucky trailed by only five with 2 minutes to go against Kentucky. Is this all building up to a UConn disaster? The Huskies better watch out.

Anonymous said...

You have to admit, that wasn't all Charlotte choking, Julius Hodge had plenty to do with that. Most underrated player in the country. Go, Wolfpack!

Adam Hoff said...

A touch of madness perhaps?

We've got Ohio clawing back against Florida (down by only five now after trailing by 19 at one point). You think the Gators aren't getting a little tight considering their recent history in first round games?

Minnesota is charging back against Iowa State, but Jared "The Next Brad Miller" Homan is swatting everything in sight.

SE Louisiana doesn't really want to go away.

And, yes, Julius Hodge came up big. That was a weird game. One team in complete control, and then, suddenly, the other team was in complete control. There really wasn't ever a point where they were going back and forth.

Adam Hoff said...

By the way, did you see that hesitation three by Jameson Curry for Oklahoma State. People never make threes when they hesitate like that. Crazy.