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

Pitt vs. Oral Roberts: Running Diary

Ok...I'm done from my little vacation away from this blog. The NCAA Tournament is underway and it's time for me to get back on the horse. All of my brackets have been filled out, and three games are already in the books. I'm feeling better now that it's a more reasonable time of day for me to be awake and people to be alive. I also have a mini-fridge full of bottled water and beer along with some amazing chicken from Sesame Inn, so I'm more than ready to go. I have a new rule for myself this year: Anytime Pitt wins the Big East Tournament as a #7 seed, is picked by Coach Bob Knight to win the National Championship, and plays Oral Roberts in the first round...I just have to keep a running diary of what takes place. Here are some things you should know about Oral Roberts before the action gets underway:

• Oral is almost always a crowd pleaser
• More often than not, Oral comes out on top
• Oral has a knack for getting hot at the right times
• It's almost impossible to overrate Oral
• Oral is good

Whew...after getting that out of my system, let us get to the game.

3:05 pm - Gus Johnson and Len Elmore welcome us to Denver for the Pitt/Oral match-up. I'm so glad to be listening to Johnson doing a Pitt game. Even though Gus shines at the ending of close games, I'm hoping we avoid that scenario this afternoon.

3:38 pm - Sorry for the delay...phone call and food. Pitt is currently on an 18-0 run and has pulled out in front of Oral 28-13. Gilbert Brown has been impressive (on the one dunk, he looked as if he was still elevating as he threw it down) and Levance Fields has, again, been a master at running the point. Pitt has also made 6 of 7 free throws. This is very fun to watch.

3:42 pm - Pitt 34 - Oral 15, Ronald Ramon just made a three point jumper. The kid knocks them down as if they were free throws. Errr...he knocks them down as if they were free throws for a team that shot free throws well.

3:47 pm - Is it possible that Gus could become bored with this game? Is it possible that a game like this allows him to conserve his energy and be absolutely outlandish later in the tournament? Is it possible that I'm jinxing things by talking about this in the first half?

3:49 pm - I'm sorry...but (this) Oral is terrible! Pitt is good...but I've never seen them get such easy chances on offense. Every possession it seems like we're getting an uncontested 13 footer, a wide open three-point shot, or an all too easy lay-up. They have been picking and choosing which shot to take and make every trip down. I can't wait until the second half when Ramon will only shoot NBA-range three-pointers and Sam Young will only shoot fade-aways, just to add a degree of difficulty. This is unreal.

3:52 pm - Pittsburgh 47 - Oral 24 at Halftime. Wow. Coming up...Live Look-Ins!!!

3:55 pm - Kent State has a total...TOTAL of 10 points at halftime against UNLV. I'm sure glad I didn't pick Kent State as a Bracket Buster team. Yep...I'm sure glad of that.

4:08 pm - These 2:30 games are all disasters right now! Pitt is up by 23, UNLV is up by 25, Purdue is up by 19, and Marquette is up by 9. No wonder the ratings have gone down the last couple of years. I need to start drinking to make this more interesting. Bring on the spelling errorz!!!

4:11 pm - Did you know that Len Elmore has a law degree from Harvard? One finds these things out during blow-outs in the Thursday afternoon games.

4:14 pm - Pitt isn't going to show Oral anything new or special here, they want to have a few surprises for teams down the road in the Tournament. I fully expect Jamie Dixon to pull a Milton Berle here in the second half...only putting (pulling) out enough to win.

4:26 pm - I just spent over 10 minutes trying to find a good link about that Milton Berle urban legend and I can't find a good one. When I do, I'll let you know. This is what I'm doing with my day now. And to think that people are out there right now at work using their skills and abilities to build self-esteem and support their families. By the way...Pitt 61 - Oral 37.

4:32 pm - This sad display by Oral Roberts is making me even more angry that they defeated IUPUI in the Summit League Championship game, costing me a valuable Conference Champion pick.

4:35 pm - CBS keeps cutting away to the Marquette vs. Kentucky game during timeouts in an attempt to sell us on the idea that an 8 point game is "competitive" compared to the 20+ point blowouts going on everywhere else right now. People might actually go outside or spend time with family if the games keep going like this.

4:44 pm - Although all of these games suck right now, this is still fun. But Phil...this would be ten times more fun if we could sit around all day and watch these games together while bs'ing, making fun of each others picks, and commenting on various announcers and coaches. Someday we will.

4:50 pm - Marquette beat Kentucky, it was never really close. Levance Fields has 23 points and Pitt is leading by 23. I'm more interested in the Pittsburgh Steelers cutting Cedrick Wilson for allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend at Patrone Mexican Bar and Grill in Wexford, PA. For those who don't know...Wexford is in the north suburbs of Pittsburgh and is about 12 minutes from my house. This north-suburb crime is getting out of hand! Didn't Santonio Holmes do the exact same thing a few years ago? But because it happened out of state and because he was a 1st round draft pick, he's still on the team. Gotta love the Rooney family setting different standards depending on the quality of their players.

4:56 pm - No upsets so far today. Back in the day I remember it almost being the rule that there was a notable upset during the afternoon session of the Thursday NCAA Tourney games. The top teams are just too good. As much as I hate to say it, I'm feeling a lot of chalk over the first two days this year.

4:58 pm - As I expected, Dixon didn't throw anything new at Oral Roberts in the second half. (Oral has actually outscored Pitt in the second half so far, 36-33) He knows that there are scouts from Michigan State and Memphis in the crowd, he's not letting them see anything until they potentially see it for the first time. Smart move. The Pitt lead has "shrunk" to 20, Pitt 80 - Oral 60.

5:05 pm - PITT WINS! PITT WINS! PITT WINS! After unloading his bench and putting in the walk-ons, Pittsburgh defeats Oral Roberts, 82-63. Another outstanding game by the Pitt defense. The only thing Oral had going for them was their three-point shooting, and once Pitt was able to defend that properly and shut them down, Oral didn't have a chance. The coaching staff did a great job preparing for that game, Pitt made it look downright easy. Outstanding game by Levance Fields. Michigan State is next on Saturday. I like this Pitt team's chances. By the way...Pitt was only an 8.5 point favorite here, so they easily covered the spread. I don't know why the hell I didn't put $50 down on this game, my mistake. Well done boys. Now I need a cigarette and a bathroom break.

Hail Coach Knight! Hail The Smartest Man Alive!!!

I just figured out how to post videos in the actual blog, instead of directing you (my faithful readers) to other pages and windows. May I mark this discovery by showing you the greatest prediction of all time. Listen to who Coach Bob Knight picks to win the NCAA Championship. (his picks start with about 1:25 left in the clip) Team of Destiny!!! I really chose the best year to cover and obsess over March Madness.

Selection Show Running Diary

Selection Sunday is finally here! Today's events will set into motion all of the games, upsets, and gambling ramifications which will take place over the next three weeks. The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee has been sequestered in Indianapolis all week debating the merits of various at-large teams while doing copious amounts of cocaine. With Pitt winning the Big East Tournament for the first time in five years, and keeping with my theme of "Conquering The 2008 NCAA Tournament"...I just had to keep a running diary of what took place during the Selection Show. I'm hoping the CBS studio team will provide a lot of unintentional comedy, not to mention the fact that they will give about 35 teams "a chance" after seeing the brackets.

6:00 pm - CBS throws out a studio team of Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, and Seth Davis. I actually don't mind Seth Davis. But I'm counting the minutes until Kellogg says something outlandish that will be proven wrong 10 minutes into the games on Thursday.

6:01 pm - UNC is the overall number one seed, the 12th time they have been a #1seed, and the Tar Heels are headed to the East Region.

6:02 pm - Gumbel is sporting some kind of purplish handkerchief in his suit coat pocket...nicely done.

6:03 pm -Memphis is the #1 in the South, UCLA #1 in the West, and Kansas #1 in the Midwest (I really like this Kansas team, although Bill Self still scares me).

6:03 pm - Seth Davis has some kind of subtle checkered patterned suit on. The CBS studio team is donning some classy threads.

6:04 pm - Jim Nanz and Billy Packer make their first appearance! Nantz looks worried that he's going to have to spend the next 3 weeks with this crabby older gentleman sitting to his right. Jim's pre-game preparations include fake smiling and fake laughing.

6:09 pm - East region is slowly announced. The play in game is Mt. st. Mary's and Coppin State. What a crucial game to the tournament! Gotta love the annual play-in game on Tuesday in Dayton Ohio. I need to write a column on that game. Indiana fell to an 8 seed? Hard times for the Hoosiers. Notre Name as a 5 seed against this years George Mason...George Mason!!! Say it isn't so Phil, Annie, Chaz, and Johnny! Butler is the 10th ranked team in the country and they get a 7 seed? Curious. If Louisville is getting a 3 seed...Pitt better fucking get a 3 or a 4 seed. That is if conference tournaments mean anything to the Selection Committee. Kellogg says that Indiana has been playing well lately...what team has he been watching?!?!? Their women's softball team? Davis has much better insight...noting that Tennessee was perhaps a better 2 seed than to be placed in the same region as UNC, and that South Alabama not only got a 10 seed...but gets to play a de facto home game at Birmingham against Butler in the first round. Seems like a really good draw for the Tar Heels.

6:17 pm -Midwest region is slowly announced. Did i call UNLV getting an 8 seed or what? NO!!!!!!!!! Two of my bracket busters are paired against each other in the first round (#8 UNLV vs. #9 Kent State)!!! Fuck!!!! Everything is going to hell! I guess one of them has to win that game though, which means one of my picks will follow through with a victory. Villanova got an at large bid? As a 12 seed? That's it, i quit. This project is over. Georgetown is a 2 seed? Pitt beat them twice this season. Things keep looking good for Pitt's seeding. (I'm setting myself up here for the disappointment and anger of them getting a #6 seed) Nice...UMBC (my first Bracket Buster) gets the privilege of knocking off G-town.Gonzaga 7 vs. Davidson 10...sexy match-up. I like Clemson as a 5 and USC as a 6. This region presents a first-round match-up with two fantastic freshman squaring off with USC's OJ Mayo playing Michael Beasley and Kansas State. Davis just called Siena over Vandy in the first round! People need to hold him accountable for this! Kellogg just called Georgetown's draw "favorable", again...what the hell is he basing these statements on?

6:25 pm - South region is slowly announced. Yikes...Oregon not only got in, but they got a #9 seed? The PAC 10 is getting some mad love this year. But where is Arizona? Nice! Nice! Nice! Pitt gets a 4 seed! AND they get to play Oral Roberts in the first round!!! I get to write about Oral for another week! The bracket gods are truly shining on me! A 3 seed seems too low for Stanford, but I do like the clash of styles in their potential second round game against Marquette. Davis is calling out the Selection Committee for putting the Atlantic 10 champion, Temple, at a 12 seed and St. Joesph's at an 11 seed. He also just put Texas in the final four. Again, commentators need to be held accountable with these picks. This region is looking like the strongest of the bunch so far...with Memphis, Texas, Stanford, and Pitt. It's only been 3 minutes, but I'm liking Pitt's draw here with Oral Robers and a potential second round game against Michigan State or Temple. I'll take Pitt against a Big Ten team anytime. I was typing too much to notice if Kellogg said anything outrageous, I'm sure it happened, but I missed it. I'll make sure to catch whatever he says after they announce the West region.

6:33 pm - West region is slowly announced. You have to like UCLA here, right? Drake is a 5 seed, normally prone to an upset, but they are too good to lose to Western Kentucky. Gotta love Drake to make some noise. Not many slots left, I'm sensing some serious bubble issues coming soon. Arizona is in as a 10 seed. Love Xavier here as a 3 seed...but they are playing this year's team of destiny in the first round, the SEC Tournament Champs, Georgia Bulldogs! Baylor is in. They sure waited to the last second on that one. Great story there with Coach Scott Drew and company. Davis just called Drake to go to the sweet sixteen. Kellogg just said to "keep an eye on West Virginia", and Davis just kind of nodded his head. Seth Davis has to do something there in order to keep from falling asleep.

No Arizona State, no Ohio State, no VCU, no Syracuse, no Illinois state, no Virginia Tech, no UMASS, no UAB, no Dayton. Wow...Dayton had a RPI of 32. Arizona State was the school that was robbed the most here. Oh well. Should have won your respective conference tournaments.

6:39 pm - Back to Billy Packer!!! Bring on the controversy! "I think Davidson is George Mason", quotes Mr. Packer. (me - shaking my head in awe) You're about a year behind the Davidson bandwagon Billy. Thanks for coming along. Not to mention the fact that there is some scientific theory out there that can prove that Davidson cannot, indeed, be George Mason. Apparently Billy has some questions coming up (says Mr. Jim Nantz), so I'll be sure to stay tuned for that. I'm patiently waiting for Billy Packer to make a guarantee. Here is an article reviewing the Selection Show from two years ago. The best part is where Hiestand says, "There weren't many surprises left for CBS' actual selection show. Except, that is, when CBS' Billy Packer began analyzing a bracket that hadn't been announced yet." Classic. I love March Madness.

6:47 pm - Good god. Nantz and Packer interviewing Tom O'Connor, head of the Selection committee. Time for Packer to be Packer, or at least time for him to throw a punch. Packer to O'Connor, "The RPI is something we always kid about, and talk about". I'm glad to know that they are chums. Nothing like kissing the ass of power. Packer seems to be hung up on the ACC (#1 in Conference RPI) only getting 4 bids when the Big East got 8 teams. I don't see him letting this go throughout the tournament, even after 6 Big East teams reach the sweet sixteen as opposed to 1 ACC team. Packer to O'Connor, "We cross paths so many times throughout the course of the winter". Again...glad to know that Packer is chums with people high up on the Selection committee. Nothing too outlandish happening here...Packer didn't throw a player, coach, team, race, or gender under the bus.

6:55 pm - Kellogg goes out on a limb and predicts all #1 seeds to reach the final four. Seth Davis has more balls...going with Tennessee, Kansas, Texas and UCLA. Kellogg's sleepers...Notre Dame, Clemson, Michigan State, and West Virginia. Seth's sleepers...Saint Joesph's, USC Temple, Arizona. Davis picks Temple over Michigan State. And Davis just named UCLA as his national champion, Kellogg agrees with him, also taking the Bruins. I can't WAIT to hear some ridiculous predictions by Kellogg on Thursday.

Hey...Cold Case and Dexter are on CBS tonight! Maybe I'll stick around and keep a running diary of those shows. Maybe not.

Have fun filling out your brackets folks. Let's rock and roll.

More On The Pitt Victory Over Louisville

I will now piggy-back a little off of Phil's running diary in an attempt to gloat more about the victorious Pittsburgh Panthers. This team loves playing at Madison Square Garden. Pitt is now 4-0 at MSG this season, including a quality win over Duke, and 21-8 dating back to the 2001-2001 season. Head coach Jamie Dixon may have put forth his bet season yet by leading this team as far and as well as he has. With the departure of Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall after last season, and the injuries to Mike Cook and Levance Fields this season, nothing much was expected of this Panthers squad. But Dixon has kept this team focused all season long and they appear to be playing their best basketball here in the Big East Tournament. I had the privilege of watching the game last night, and while I didn't keep a running diary like Phil, I have the following thoughts on Pitt's play so far in the tournament.

• Sam Young is outstanding. He has scored 21 points in each of the Panther's two tournament games. Young led Pitt with 12 rebounds last night against Louisville, 5 on the offensive glass. More importantly, he is becoming the leader of this team by (finally) playing some sound defense and hustling like I've never seen him before. His performance in this tournament, and over the entire season, has Panther fans hoping and praying that he'll come back for his senior year.
• Levance Fields is back running the point like we all hoped he would. Now granted, his shooting is still pretty bad (a combined 5-21 in the first two games of the tournament for a dismal 24%). But I'm not worried about him scoring, that is the job of Sam Young, Ronald Ramon, and DeJuan Blair. What jumps out at me about Fields is this - he has 12 assists and only 2 turnovers over the past two games! On his Conference's biggest stage, Levance has stepped up his game by distributing and protecting the basketball soundly. As Phil noted, his ability to continually break Louisville's press last night was textbook.
• Can enough be said about Gilbert Brown's performance last night? He came off the bench when Keith Benjamin got into some foul trouble and contributed 36 solid minutes and grabbed 8 rebounds. He was all over the place. Gotta love it when you get a surprise performance like that off the bench.
• Senior guard Ronald Ramon was not going to let this be the last game he ever played in the Garden. Back in his hometown of NYC, he played a team-high 42 minutes last night. 42 minutes! Ramon could always sink three-pointers as if they were free throws and he has shown that in the first two games of the Big East Tournament, going 7 of 13 beyond the arc.
• I need to mention that the vaunted Pitt defense is finally back! After playing suspect defense for the second half of the regular season, the Panthers have bounced back in a big way in the Big East Tournament. Pitt held Cincinatti to 64 points and a 39% shooting percentage on Wednesday, then followed that up with another strong performance Thursday night, holding Louisville to 69 points (in a game that went to overtime) and 38% from the field. Hopefully they can keep this up against a high scoring Marquette team.
• Again, much credit needs to be given to Jamie Dixon. Pitt has now won 16 of it's last 22 games in the Big East Tournament. He never let this team give up on the season. Who knows how Pitt will do against Marquette today, let alone in the NCAA Tournament. It almost doesn't matter because this Pitt team is one of the most likable Panther squads I've witnessed in years. They hustle and they seem to really enjoy playing together (something I didn't see all that much during the Carl Krauser or Aaron Gray years). I wouldn't put anything past Coach Dixon and this group of players. As the win against Louisville last night showed me, anything is possible with team. Go Pitt!

Phil's Running Diary of Pitt vs. Louisville

I was THRILLED to come home and find a pseudo running diary in my inbox, as my friend Phil e-mailed me throughout the second-half of the Pitt/Louisville Big East Conference Game last night. Pitt was victorious in overtime, 76-69. I didn't ask for Phil's permission yet, but I will now share with you his running diary of the great Pitt victory, as the Panthers have now reached 7 of the last 8 Big East Tournament semifinals. (anything in parenthesis is my two cents or editing) I love this blog.

• (8:34 pm - Pitt 47 Louisville 43) - i'm here at nd (Notre Dame) watching the pitt game. so i have easy access to internet. pitt's up four. it's the 12 minute media timeout and i decided i would e-mail you at this and the next two media timeouts. i'm so glad that we're in this game. i'm still not expecting a win, but it's great to see us competitive with a great louisville team. more later.
• (8:44 pm - Pitt 53 Louisville 48) - pitt's up five at the 7:55 mark. l o v e d that assist by fields to brown for the dunk. also still glad to see pitt with a lead but not expecting a win. i feel like it's been awhile (since) pitt has put together a complete performance and really utilized their talent. maybe this is the game?
• (8:58 pm - Louisville 60 Pitt 58) - pitt's down 2 with 2:30 to play. i can't complain about biggs and brown at all. they've given pitt some great minutes tonight. i've even come to like them. but can we please put benjamin and blair back in the game? again, i'm glad to just be in this position at all. let's hope that they can buckle down and come (up)with a big play or two to pull it out. my prediction? ramon for a lead-taking, and keeping, 3.
• (9:10 pm - Louisville 62 Pitt 62) - (headed into overtime) tie game, end regulation. damn. we had a chance. i don't like our chances in OT with blair in foul trouble. but hey, who knows. fields' shot still seems a bit off to me. i don't think i'll be able to stay up for the nd game now. go pitt!!
• (9:31 pm - FINAL: Pitt 76 Louisville 69 in overtime) - what a game. talk about grit in overtime. i love this team! they showed defense and determination tonight that i haven't seen in, like, the past 6 games that i've watched of theirs. young is finally playing some defense. we just have louisville's number in the big east tourney. i loved levance's ability to break the press. i only watched the second half, but i didn't see_any_ turnovers against the press (pitt had some turnovers, but not while they were being pressed, that i can recall). and as a small consolation, i picked this game! (in our Big East pool brackets) i hope you enjoyed this running commentary.

I absolutely did Phil, I absolutely did. Go Pitt!!!