The title quote is of course from that great American, Bono. So it is Sunday and the KUBE/NCAA gods (small g) are demanding more karnage! I do not know whether that can be delivered. The Michigan State v. Tennessee game is really a battle of two well matched programs but the hated Duke against my beloved Baylor Bears is where, if the tournament holds to form, magic can happen. Scott Drew is a graduate of Butler University who did his assistant coaching gig at Valparaiso under his father the formidable Homer Drew and was there was his brother Bryce made "the shot" that took Valpo into the sweet 16. He took over Valpo at his dad's retirement and then left for Baylor (his dad unretired and took over Valpo again) where he found a program on life support. One of the players had just killed another and the investigation into Dave Bliss' program got them put on probation with limited scholarships and recruits through 2010 (this year). He is one of two coaches in the country in national programs who plays a 3-2 zone defense (the other being Syracuse Coach Jim (I disappointed everyone again) Boeheim. The long and the short....GO BAYLOR!
Of course being a Butler grad would make a great final four story if Baylor can go play against the Butler Bulldogs. They are only a Cinderella because their lack of prior success. They are a 5 seed after all but still, what a great story and going back to Indy for the final four! If they could only play it at the Hinkle Field House (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=hinkle+field+house&ns0=1&redirs=0) and have Gene Hackmen coaching them to run "the old picket fence" while a drunken Dennis Hopper tearfully looks on, then everything would be perfect. This has been a magic tournament and fun to watch and has been a great break from the reality of unemployment, health care debates, recession, etc... Lets treasure this last week.
The KUBE of kourse has held to form providing all of the upset and drama that is lacking from our daily lives. The KUBE people are at best a bland and trivial group. Midwesterners for the main. Hard workers. Republicans. Pent up serial killers. That being the case the KUBE serves as a much valued annual release. A "blowing off of the proverbial steam" as it were. Every morning after a series of games I can count on Becker The Wrecker leaving me a message on my cell phone that goes something like this..."LOSER! LOSER! LOSER!" Ahhhhh...brotherly love. My picks, (currently 210 and 222) are my worst performance...ever. EVER! Not that I am bitter. The fact that my brother is in at 190 is....very painful. Of course I do have West Virginia winning it all while he has....wait for it....KANSAS! Sure, he will tell you he is also at 58 but we all know that bracket was filled out by his dog, and his dog chose Kentucky. Oops.
THIS IS A PICTURE OF ST. MICHAEL'S FOOT CRUSHING THE HEAD OF THE DEVIL (It's a metaphor Larry)
.What is interesting now is that our top four in the standings are all dead with their Champion picks leaving the well financed "Blair Kartel" in 5th and poised to possibly win it all with the hated Duke Blue Devils. (Picture if you will Glen beck with his chalk board drawing a picture of the devil and then writing BLUE and DEVIL. Drawing arrows downwards towards hell and explaining "blue, like the blues music that has dragged our country into the doldrums of recession and dEVILS...LIKE THE DEVIL! It is all right there in front of your people! I give you the facts and you make your own conclusions but....JIM BLAIR IS THE DEVIL!" Or something like that.
If Duke falls look for little Tommy Mulvahill of Webster. Soon to be married....charging forward with his Butler Bull Dogs to an improbable and storied win. If Duke falls today Kathy Gorshman (I don't even know her so I cannot disparage her family, her looks or her children or pets if any) with West Virginia could come charging from 48. No one has Michigan State or Tennessee winning it all.
The excitemen is in the air. Soon team Kukla with their complex mathematical precision will be able to post all of the possible scenarios, whether tonight or tomorrow. My only claim to fame in this whole mess of a beautiful tournament is way back on selection Sunday, March 13, the followers in this space were able to read:
"So I will not see what bubble beaters get in and who gets edged out. Mizzou is in. the Bills are out, the Illini....we will have to watch. It broke my heart that Ohio State did not get bounced but it happens. They edged by Michigan, they edged by Illinois. They are in and fighting for a 1 seed and I will be cheering for them to get bounced early. Kansas looks tough, Syracuse, Vandy, Purdue and Xavier stumbled in but watch for my adopted school. The Baylor Bears."
Indeed. In the KUBE we take solace where we can find it. Go Bears! beat the otherworldly, evil Blue DeVILS!
No comments:
Post a Comment