Fighting from the Grave (3/19/05)

And in the foul year of our Lord 2005, The determined and muscular Kentucky Wildcats advance to the Sweet 16, past the fighting but annually fraudulent Cincinnati Bearcats. Moving up within perhaps the weekest bracket, where the favorite sleeper in Syracuse has already been shot down, the bluegrass hoopsters seem to be honoring the memory of their gonzo son.

At the same time, across the sheet, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are about to lose to West Virginia. Wake had the lead early and for most of the game. But it’s still a one-point game, with 27.9 seconds left.

I’ve been fighting my desire to like and even appreciate Kentucy ever since Tubby Smith took over from the crude Rick Pitino. This might be the year where I finally give in to myself.

There have been quite a few upsets this year, between last night and today, but Wake-West Virginia doesn’t seem to be one of them. Wake just took it to overtime, and despite what Syracuse did to themselves last night, an underdog generally doesn’t want to give the favorite a clear do or die situation with as much time as 5:00 left on the clock. That is precisely what overtime is.

But, a couple of minutes in, West Virginia has created new momentum and seem to own the outcome. We’ll see. If Wake misses, Texas Tech must be the favorite in that region to get to the Final Four. Washington is still an upstart. And Tech played big-time basketball this afternoon. Bobby Knight needed to win that game. It’s been a decade since his last Sweet 16 appearance, and that’s too long. A lot of people don’t like Bobby Knight. Personally, I love him. I don’t know if I’d ever send my son to play for him. I guess it depends a lot on the personality of my son. I don’t think Knight harms a certain many kinds of people. But some just arent for him. But he can be a great teacher, and I hope that his career continues strongly.

I pedaled strongly on the eliptical machine today. I had to suffer through 15 minutes of women’s tennis and some musical program while a middle aged and weakly bearded faggot in a tank top had his way with the visuals. I wanted to pound my fist and yell and force the issue. Instead I focused on the passenger-side headlight of my car, parked just on the other side of the window down a floor and in front of me. I dug in and I flew on that machine. Burned 450 calories in 32 minutes.

I think that the pretender watching the women’s tennis game at the gym would have been eaten alive by Bobby Knight. This guy was just the type to take a chair to the head or at least some hardy verbal abuse. If I had the strength and compassion, I’d do it myself. But I really didn’t care.

If West Virginia gets by Wake, there is no way they will get by Tech. This year, the Big East does not match up against a veteran midwesterner like Bobby Knight, and doesn’t stand a chance against big-time college athletics like you find in Texas.

West Virginia is obviously going to lose this game. You don’t give an increasingly angry giant this many chances to bury you. It’s like escaping from the hitman in the woods and then going back to throw dirt in his eye. Bad idea. Two overtimes now. Tech will have to deal with Wake, and it’s going to be fun.

This is college basketball. This is March madness.

I should be a fucking commercial.

- posted by seanmh @ 10:06 AM