Didn’t know you were doing game summaries now.

I’m 300 miles away, but when I saw Preston heading toward the hoop with 30 seconds left and a four-point lead, you could hear an audible grunt on TV, the kind of grunt a bull makes in Pamplona when he’s about to gore a drunkard. There was absolutely no way he was pulling it back out to draw a foul. “No, Preston!, NOOOOOOOOO,” I screamed, alone in my apartment. But it was too late. I love that guy. And yet, if he’d missed it and they’d gone down and hit a three, it might not be so funny.

Only other thing that really puzzled me during the game: they kept talking about how Buzz was thrilled that Lundquist was doing the game, since Buzz used to listen to him growing up in Texas, where he was a local sportscaster. How does this work exactly? Buzz is coaching the game, he can’t a damn word that Verne is saying, and yet he was breathlessly excited? I like the guy, he’s a great story and seems by all accounts to be quite classy, but I hope for his sake there wasn’t an “OMG, Verne Lundquist is doing the game” in his inner monologue yesterday. Unless it was because he recognized him from Happy Gilmore. In that case, it is totally acceptable.

I must admit to a huge, absolutely huge, bias when it comes to Andre McGee. I’ve said all year long — so much that I’m sure everybody here is tired of reading it — that we’re a much better team when he’s on the floor. Seeing him score yesterday was a great bonus pleasure, but watching him disrupt offenses all year long has been absolutely delightful. Sure, I wish he was a better shooter. And there are times when he gets a bit careless in the lane, too. But you are never, ever going to doubt his effort on defense — and our team absolutely depends upon Andre keeping people out of the lane. Hats off to him, and to T-Will and the rest of the Cards regardless of what happens with the Big East title. I can’t believe we have just two league losses and 14-2 will be a remarkable accomplishment if we’re able to pull it off. If Pitt were to beat UConn, that would be icing on the cake (I’m running out of cliche’s). But nothing that happens against Seton Hall or W. Va. can much diminish was a terrific season it’s been.

Now, let’s see if we can get a one or two seed for the Big Dance and enjoy the rest of March.

Sosa was definitely in a funk yesterday.

It always drives me crazy when the TV cameras cut to a shot of our bench celebrating, but Edgar has on his full pout-face.

McGee’s dunk yesterday was a classic example. I saw it on TV, but the picture Mike posted above highlights it even more. Everyone else is going bat-shit crazy, and Edgar looks like someone just ran over his dog.

Hope you’re right, Mike, that this was just a relapse. Because that kid’s decision-making is almost entirely dictated by his emotional state on game day.

First, I think the decision to split up Sosa/Smith and McGee/Knowles hasn’t worked out well at all. Sosa is the kind of player whose ego needs the starting nod. Let’s not forget the starting combo of Sosa/Smith led Louisville to a 9-0 January and a defeat of the number one team. I would like to see the lineup return to the January grouping.

Second, the elephant in the room is Earl Clark. On several different occasions during the second half, the crowd openly groaned when he took two very wide open thees. He missed both and that has become a problem. It seems the fans and opposing teams realize Earl can’t make that shot. Earl hasn’t figured that out yet though. He does a lot of very good things on the court, but hovering around the arc has hurt him. I know he’s announced he’s turning pro, but I believe that is a very suspect decision on his part. He could have been next year’s TWill.

He’s one of the greater conundrums of recent Cardinal basketball history. You watch his athleticism; you wonder about his shot selection and you complain about his mindlessness from time to time. Then the game ends and he has double-doubles or something close at hand. He’s mystifying, I think, because of all that talent, yet he doesn’t seem to understand the flow and nuance of the game. Or something.

But people have been telling him he’s going to the NBA in the first round for so long that I’m sure it is now a self-fulfilling proposition. To my mind he’d really benefit from another year and then he’d be a sure-fire lottery pick. He’d perhaps learn that driving left means you don’t always have to shoot it with your right hand; he’d perhaps learn to value every possession.

As it is, he’s probably gone and he may well have a successful pro career. Hell, he may already be a lottery pick. Or he could end up in the developmental league after his two-year guarantee runs out. I honestly can’t tell.

One point to add is that there was a moment when Jerry flirted with the sexy new drive-and-create-your-own-shot cheerleader, but while he scored on that one trip, he apparently never called her back. I was hoping to see something brewing there in the next week, but now I’m worried that drive-and-create-your-own-shot girl and mildly-contested-jumpshot girl know about each other and are both deserting Jerry as we head down the stretch.

Watched the game at the Hall, came home and watched it again on TiVo, many plays in slow mo. These announcers got more calls wrong than the officials. And boy, that’s a lot of mistakes. When the replay came on and showed both groups got it wrong the announcers completely ignored the fact that they and the zebras, blew it. Too busy laughing about things. Too many announcers these days seem to try to make having fun the most important thing and ignore what’s actually happening on the floor. It’s the damned Vitale syndrome. My God, it’s spreading! It’s a virus. Civilization is doomed.

I just posted at 9:01 and the website says it was at 6:01. Is this thing Left Coast time?

I guess so because I just noticed PST after the time. So why?