First and foremost, congratulations to the Georgetown Hoyas for not only doing the Big East a solid, but legitimizing my preseason and postseason national champion pick and catapulting me to the head of the leaderboard in NBX's Battle of the Blogs contest.
First prize wins a little bit of cash and a keg of beer, so if daddy can hold on get ready for an epic bash at CC Headquarters...but only if you take your shoes off at the door, I'm not making the same mistake I made when I invited Don Russell and his posse over for a celebration after the '03 C-USA Conference Tournament championship. I won't go into too much detail but suffice it to say that Don Russell can't keep himself from tying people's shoes together like a third grader. It's a buzz kill. Robbie Valentine is still pissed.
Anyhow the Hoyas officially completed the turnaround from Cheetoh-fixated underachievers to Final Four participant with a marvelous second-half comeback and subsequent overtime domination.
If you haven't noticed that John Thompson III is one of the best coaches in the game by now, then you either don't like basketball or are Seth Davis (Carolina is going to dominate the last five minutes of the game, eh Seth? Seriously, are you ever right? If my barber cut off my ear every single time I needed a fresh fade he'd eventually stop getting my business, and yet your smug mug keeps popping up on my idiot box. You disgust me).
But seriously, if your head coach is someone who had success consistently when he coached at Princeton, it's probbaly a solid indication that you've got a pretty sharp and classy guy. I like the way he carries himself, I like the way his players carry themselves, and I like the way his team plays. They're not going to be this good a year from now, but best believe with JT3 on the sidelines they're going to be a force in the Big East again for a long time.
Georgetown is back people.
Of course the Final Four is almost an afterthought for much of the Commonwealth right now, as the coaching rumors continue to come fast and furiously, and then too fast and too furiously, and then fast and furiously Tokyo Drift, out of Lexington.
The soon-to-be Eric Montross look-alike Matt Jones has a pretty thorough breakdown of the list of candidates as they stand right now.
Going simply off of what I've read and heard tenth hand from people, I do think that Donovan would have been named head coach by the end of this week had Florida lost either Friday or Sunday. I'm not saying that he's a lock - Final Fours are what you get into the coaching business for, and winning another national championship or having something else happen this weekend that inspires him to stay is still very possible - but he's got the Kentucky clause in his his contract, it's the job he's always wanted, and if he really felt inclinated to stay then he would have at least hinted at as much when he had chance after chance to over the last few days.
Of course knowing the kind of guy that Billy "Everyone Knows I'm Cheating" (kudos Mike Montgomery) Donovan is, can we really put feigning interest to land an even bigger paycheck past him? Apparently Bernie Machen has the dough.
If it isn't Billy the Kid then apparently it's Jay "Suave" Wright or Billy "No One Knew Who I Was Before This Season" Gillispie. Wright is a guy I love so obviously I'm not down for that, but even though I don't know all that much about Gillispie, he does strike me as a bit of an asshole and someone who is borderline insane so I'm on board there.
Don't back down Cal, push hard, offer some heroine, do something. You have to know that you're never going to go to the Final Four with Memphis State, and you already hate Louisville and Louisville definitely hates you, it's a perfect fit. Find a way to make this happen.
I know it's a long shot, but is anyone else hoping that by the end of the tournament the commercial with the little shithead who has the pet lizard "Spike" will end with him getting run over by that woman in the car?
So without looking this kid runs in front of a car to pick up the lizard he dropped (a lizard he was using to terrorize little girls mind you), and then when a woman slams on her breaks to avoid ending his life, he simply stares at her and then runs off without so much as an apology? That doesn't fly with me.
I will fork over a solid chunk of change to anyone who will edit this commercial to show junior taking four wheels to the face on the Monday night of the national championship game.
I'm also going to have to see this acting kid in something else where he's good before he's off my shit list. I went through the same thing with Ralph Fiennes after the first time I saw Schindler's List. That's right, in my world there's no differentiation between active members of the Nazi party and kids who don't apologize for making someody brake.
Yes I want to have children someday, why do you ask?
I know this is old news, but is there a less intelligent team in the country than Tennessee?
You have an All-American on your team who is practically automatic at the end of games and instead the other guards opt to make crazy drives to the bucket on possession after possession in the final minute, despite the fact that they are awful from the charity stripe.
It sure looks like there's a decent amount of jealousy to go along with the stupidity in Rocky Top, and that's the perfect recipe for a blown 20-point lead in a regional semifinal.
Sorry Chris, if you'd ended up where you deserved to then you wouldn't be having to put up with this.
The worst part about a tournament with so much chalk (doesn't it seem like you've heard that word more in the last two weeks than in all of your elementary school days combined?) is having to put up with every other person you know talking about how many elite eight and Final Four teams they got right.
These are the same people who pick the Yankees before every single season, told everyone that Reagan would get re-elected by a large margin in '84, and used the same coat-hanger solar system as their science project for 15 years.
By the way I got three out of the four Final Four teams and the Yankees are going to win the World Series. Mondale's got it in the bag though.