Basketball!!!

"Beware the ides of March..."

Thought I'd post a little something before the Big Dance begins in a couple of minutes. I'll start with entertainment before shifting into basketball.

I think Dana captured our feelings on American Idol perfectly the other day with her post. I don't particularly look forward to anyone singing anything. The strange girl with the strange name is about the only one close. Quite a scream she had the other night and further proof of the old saying "the singer matters more than the song." I'm pretty sure that if Lambert had done that last year, I would have broken the TV with my face. This year? Not so bad (although it was pretty bad).

It is easy to glorify Paula since she's not there and forget how annoying she could be at times, but really the judging this year is atrocious. Along with the usual array of things Kara is capable of, she is now beginning each pontification with at least 10 inconsequential words..."Here's the thing about you that is so you..." "Look, I've gotta be honest about this, you know how I feel..." she reminds me of Nicholas Fein, the political comedian on SNL.

Also, Randy. I noticed last night that his sentence sequences are similar to if you just randomly selected them from several conversations at once, while making sure to tell the audience that he likes music other than R&B. "Dawg, you know how I love you. and I like Rascal Flatts. That song was just not the right choice. You look great. There was just something...ahhhh. I don't know, but you have got some RANGE, dawg. I liked it, but for me it was just tough, you know? E?"

I would have tried to transcribe an actual Randy commentary, but it would be difficult to spell the words he uses sometimes. And as I copied it, it would have made me 4 % dumber.

I like that when Ellen is rough on someone, she always finishes with "I'm sorry." She means it, too.

Next week, Simon and Kara will just share a love seat instead of separate chairs. They might as well at this point.

After one week of the Idol Challenge, The Ripe Bananas and The Tone-Deafs are tied at 0 points. What can I say? we play down to our competition.

Speaking of competition...MARCH MADNESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, I sat through one of the greatest games of my life between Kentucky and Miss St. For the record, I have always despised Miss St and root heavily for them to tank in the SEC tourney if for no other reason than to not have to hear their fight song over and over. It is second only to Rocky Top on the list of songs that make me want to set fire to something.

-short digression while we're here: On Saturday, Kentucky played Tennessee. The place was 95% Kentucky fans during that game, and every time the band played Rocky Top, the Cats fans would launch into their "Go Big Blue" chant and completely drown out the UT band. It was phenomenal. Classy, clean way to obliterate that crime against music. digression over -

Miss St. was knowingly playing for their bid to the NCAAs whereas Kentucky (known to sleepwalk and lose focus this year) was playing for what their coach called a "meaningless tournament championship." It had the makings of an upset. Bullet point observations beginning now:

• Eric Bledsoe is the perfect complement to John Wall. He does all the little things, seems to have no ego about all the attention going to Wall and Cousins, hits big shots, and plays great defense. If I were a Kentucky fan, he may be my favorite on the team. Patterson is the big man version of him, and the right complement to Cousins too. Calipari has been dismissed as an all star team coach, but each player has a clearly defined role on this team.
• Miss St played with SO much heart. They had three guards whose names I've forgotten. But they all looked the exact same, had similar numbers, and banged home huge threes at big moments. Every time the crowd would get loud and Kentucky would have them on the ropes, here came a big shot from these nameless killers. As Raftery would say, "Onions!!!"
• Stansbury has been called the Gottfried counter part. I agree that they are very similar (dirty recruiting, not good with X and O, slimey), but I'll give him this over Gottfried: he is an active coach. Shouting instructions, animated, uses timeouts well...he at least has a pulse over there.
• John Wall in person is a different experience than on TV. I knew it going in, but it was strking how fast and athletic he is. He didn't shoot that well in either game I saw, but his slashing on fast breaks was incredible.
• DeMarcus Cousins - the Manny Ramirez of college basketball. You HAVE to put him in the game. Just when you want to write him off as a head case, he plays big. He is maddening. I want to hate him, then I want to like him. Whichever mindset I'm in, he does the opposite. George Costanza as a 6'10 black dude.
• As always, the UK fans do not disappoint. They are friendly, cheer at the right times, know the game very well as a whole, and are dedicated to affecting the game...which they do every time.
• Back to Bledsoe. He was somewhat brushed past on this, but he goes to the line down 3. He HAS to make the first one and swishes it under pressure. Then he pulls off the perfect miss. so many guys fling it 90 miles an hour at the rim and end up messing the whole thing up. Bledsoe went about it with smarts...arc it high, allow your rebounders time to push in, and it nicked the rim perfectly allowing UK one more chance. Everyone focused on Wall's rundown, and Cousins' putback. Bledsoe made just as big a play.
• Everyone asks me how loud it got when cousins made the shot. It wasn't as loud as you'd think because half the fans weren't sure he got it off. It was louder when Wall hit the three in OT. It was also loud the entire game against UT...which was nice.
• The reason I rank this as the best game I've ever been to is the quality of the play. It had everything: something on the line, great offensive plays, fast breaks, timely shooting, coaching moves that meant something. But I really think what I'll remember most was the feel of back and forth. Comebacks are great (and this one had a small one with UK down 5 really late), but when two teams trade baskets all game, it makes for better theatre.

I have filled out 4 brackets and don't feel good about any of them. I have Syracuse winning the whole thing. Kansas, Nova, and Kentucky in the Final Four. My Cinderella pick - UTEP. Because it is Spring Break for me, I am able to sit back with some buddies today and soak in the Madness...God bless it! Maybe next year, Alabama will actually make it in.