The Beginning Of The End: Championship Game Follow Up

(How the hell did this happen?)

Due to popular demand (and the guilt I have for never finishing what I start), I'm closing out this blog with 5 columns. This brief recap of the Championship Game and the Tournament in general is the 1st of these final posts. I thank everyone for reading and contributing to this elaborate project. My thoughts and ideas only go so far...it was the encouragement, suggestions, and comments from all of you that really helped take this NCAA Tournament Blog to another level. (Annie...I have no idea what Bill Self was trying to prove with that red/white/blue striped tie. But it wasn't as bad as Roy Williams wearing that gaudy Kansas sticker/button (?) in the stands. What's The Matter With Kansas?!?!? Indeed.)

As for the Championship Game:

I don't take much away from this game. Maybe it's because I didn't have a chance to win money in any of my NCAA pools. Maybe it's because the game represented not only the end of the tournament, but the end of this blog. Maybe it's because a match-up between North Carolina and UCLA would have been a lot more engaging and "sexier". Or maybe it's because the Championship Game of the Final Four is always (on some level) going to be a letdown. We won't make the argument now for which weekend of the tournament is "better", but the first two weekends of March Madness are hands-down the most interesting and captivating weekends of the event. I claim that Thursday and Friday of the first weekend are the best two days in sports for the entire year. The Final Four and Title game can't help not living up to the hype and expectations that are unfairly thrust upon them. March Madness is marketed and publicized as an event that spans weeks. Interest peaks nationally between Selection Sunday and the following Sunday. By that time the teams have been reduced from 65 to 16. After that, the interest just isn't at the initial level. Is there any other sporting event that peaks at the beginning of said event? None that I can think of. This is what the NCAA Tournament has going against it. I'll probably only ever be truly excited about a Championship game for 3 reasons:

1. I have a vested interest in the game. Meaning that I have a pool and/or certain amount of money that I could personally win/lose on the game.
2. My home team, or a team I am personally involved with on some level, is playing in the Championship game. This would include (but not be limited to) Pittsburgh, Iowa, Davidson, and Notre Dame.
3. If the match-up in the Championship game was amazing. I don't mean good...I don't mean great...I mean outstanding. Even though Memphis and Kansas were both #1 seeds...and even though the game ended up being decent...the match-up was not outstanding. There wasn't a lot of star-power and the coaches were trying to overcome hurdles and preconceived notions rather than assert their genius and dominance.

Other than those three reasons...I'll probably never be excited or thrilled about an NCAA Championship game. That doesn't mean that I won't watch. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciated the sport. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate and give much credit to the winner. And that DEFINITELY doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the structure of the Tournament (see NCAA Football). It simply means that I personally love the first two weekends of March Madness the most. After that...almost anything feels like a let-down.

As for the Championship Game (haven't I done this before?):

Chalmers hit a game-tying three pointer that Kansas never should have been in position to make. Coach Calipari out-dressed Coach Self. Memphis missed some free-throws (surprise). John Calipari was seconds away from winning his first Championship. Bill Self was seconds away from not winning his first Championship. Billy Packer called yet another Championship game (CBS...PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS). We had an overtime title game, but it really didn't feel like it and wasn't very exciting as the entire Memphis squad was exhausted. Kansas won a National Championship without Roy Williams. Bill Self found himself in the unlikely position of cutting the nets down. John Calipari still remains a Clarion University alumni. And...perhaps most perplexing...I missed one shining moment because I was on the phone or cooking or cleaning up something.

So that was that. Good enough game I suppose. They really need to let Gus Johnson call the Final Four next year. I swear...Billy Packer must have some incriminating pictures of someone at CBS. So we may be stuck with him for another 35 years. I must give credit where credit is due. Congrats to the Kansas Jayhawks and Bill Self. I doubted your abilities and you all proved me wrong. I'll have to find other ways of making fun of you and demeaning you next year.

1020 & 8101

Welcome Those Near & Far

In a last (or maybe second to last) ditch effort to have more than 20 people reading this NCAA Tournament project, I've enlisted some friends to pimp this blog for me. I'm tracking the readership of this blog and have hits from as far away as Phoenix and Honolulu. A very special thanks to Senator Nate for his help. You can most certainly count on my vote Senator. I'll admit right now that I've become power hungry. After my humble beginnings with this project, where I didn't care if only 3 people were reading it, I've become obsessed with power and exposure. This is simply the natural course of things because it perfectly sets up my next blog where I'm strung out, exhausted, and on death's door after power and fame have ruined me...only to be encouraged and saved by those loyal and true friends/fans who were there for me in the beginning. My goal is to be ranked in the top 500 blogs on the website where this blog is being tracked I've been in the top 2000 and 1500 without even trying, so a little bit of whoring myself out shouldn't make this goal too difficult. To my new readers, welcome to this wonderful world where I'm literally filling out 30 Conference Tournament Brackets. To my faithful readers who have been there with me and for me all along...I'll only swear you off after I get famous...then come back to loving you after I've hit rock bottom. Seriously though...thank you all for reading. Nothing is going to change here...until ESPN or some other organization dangles a check in front of me. Then I'm completely selling out. Everyone has a price.

Three quick college basketball related note:

• My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament gracefully today with a first round loss to Michigan. Head coach Todd Lickliter (formerly of Butler) is going to be a great fit in Iowa City, it's just going to take some time.
• Bob Knight did a great job yesterday on his broadcast debut for ESPN. Coach Knight was brought in to be a studio analyst during Championship week and throughout the NCAA Tournament. A lot of articles have been written in the last 24 hours bitching about how bland and "corporate" Coach Knight was during his debut (I believe some of these articles were written before he actually went on the air). What the hell do you want people?!? Would you prefer that he goes ape-shit and throws a chair at Digger Phelps? Or maybe you'd enjoy it if he leaned over the desk and choked Rece Davis? The people who are complaining about how Coach Knight's debut wasn't compelling television make me sick. He's not a fucking monkey that's only around to amuse you while throwing temper tantrums and telling off reporters. Coach Knight is a living legend who has won more NCAA Division I basketball games than any other coach. Show the guy some respect. He's not a circus animal. It's a privilege to have him around for the Tournament in any capacity. It goes to show that casual fans, not to mention a large part of the media, are selfish bastards who just want to be entertained to their ridiculous standards until something loud, new, and shiny comes along in 10 minutes. I hate to be arrogant (actually I love it), but I'm completely right on this issue.
• I'll get around to posting my column on the 5 Conference Tournaments that started today. These are the last 5 Conference Tournaments to predict and cover (numbers 26-30)! This process hasn't been as bad and painstaking as I thought it might be. You'll just have to take my word and know in your heart that I filled out these brackets ahead of time. Enjoy the games tonight. Go Pitt and Go Irish! (At least for one more day)

Games on: Tuesday, Feb. 19th

Not too much was on last night's slate, here's what I got:

• Indiana beat in-state rival Purdue, 77-68, at the Hoosier-Dome (or whatever the hell 'The Place That Bobby Knight Built' is called). This creates even more of a log-jam in the Big Ten with Indiana & Wisconsin at 11-2 and Purdue a game ahead at 12-2.
• Iowa is now 5-9 in conference, thanks to the fact that they beat previously winless-in-Big-Ten-play Northwestern last night, 53-51. The Wildcats are now 0-13 in conference play.
• Back to Indiana. Eric Gordon scored 22 to lead the Hoosiers against Purdue and continues on his course to be a one-and-done college stud. Part of this blog is to prepare you for stories you'll be hearing all March long until you're stick of them. I'm just giving you knowledge now so you'll be smarter and therefore sicker of these stories before everyone else. Eric Gordon initially signed with the University of Illinois. Now this never made much sense as Gordon is from Indianapolis. But it didn't have to make sense as as he later shunned Illilnois and decided to stay at home and play for the Hooisers. Broadcasters and bound to bring this stuff up in March, but it really doesn't matter much anyway because he'll be playing for the Knicks or Sonics next season. He's wicked good.
• Hoosiers coach Kelvin Sampson might have coached his last game at Indiana, as possible NCAA violations hang over his head, as well as over the head of Indiana's program. It's possible Sampson could be gone by the weekend. But it isn't beyond belief that he could coach the team until the end of the season. Just be aware that this crap is hanging over Sampson and the University of Indiana. And know that Sampson has ALREADY been busted for doing this shit while coaching the Oklahoma Sooners. This isn't a case of Sampson being confident he wouldn't get caught, or even a case of him being cocky, this is a simple case of stupidity. You'll hear these stories rehashed and rehashed all March, along with the rumor that Bobby Knight could come back to IU and coach them to glory! Not likely.
• UCONN got another bullshit win last night, beating DePaul, 65-60, in a game where DePaul lead by as many as 13 in the second half. I'm just pissed because a bunch of "top tier" Big East teams keep winning games they soooooooooo should have lost. And that just makes things harder for Pitt heading down the stretch. Hasheem Thabeet is the name you need to know when discussing UCONN. You'll hear about him throughout the Big East Tournament as well as the Big Dance.
• To give my friend Phil some props, Davidson defeated UNC Greensboro 75-66 last night to up their record to 20-6 overall, 18-0 in Southern Conference play. Everyone should already know Davidson's Stephen Curry (son of ex-NBA'er Dell Curry) from last season when he trailed only Kevin Durant in Freshman scoring and set a NCAA freshman record with 113 three-pointers. Davidson will be a popular (Dare I say, sexy?) first round upset pick no matter where they are seeded in the Big Dance. Be prepared for the hype around Curry and the Wildcats again.