Archive for NCAA tournament
Final Four Showdown
Posted by: | CommentsHello again to my loyal faction of readers. I apologize for taking the last two weeks off. The news has been slow and I have been busy. I now plan to blog every other week with the hopes of being more in depth and varied. Having said that, I am leading off with my favorite topic, sports. All the buzz is about the final four. While I respect what the Cardinals have achieved this post-season, they are simply no match for the Wildcats. UK has all the weapons and only poor officiating can stop them. However, I wouldn’t put it past having questionable calls due to how universally Calipari is despised by the NCAA powers that be. For some reason, parity remains absent from the women’s game. All four #1 seeds are now in the final and none of the regional final games were even contested as the games were decided by 12, 15, 19, and 31 points. With 6’8” Griner on the floor, Baylor will be all but impossible to beat. Lastly in the sports world, I feel it is a slap at the U.S. for major league baseball to be opening the season in Japan. That honor should always belong to our country.
Noted with interest the article in the religious column in the Saturday Courier. It spoke of the change in membership of various religions between 2004 and 2010. The Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches have suffered significant losses while the Assemblies of God, Mormons, Jehovah Witness, and the Black Baptist churches have gained. I believe this is because the churches that have lost are slow to embrace change and have expressly embraced keeping their churches smaller. The biggest surprise was that many of the churches that have gained have done so by the Hispanic population. I have never pictured Mormons as Hispanic. I guess my bias is showing.
One of the other big topics in the news has been the Trayvon Martin death in Florida. Long before any true details were known, the “race profiteers” were on the band wagon. It sickens me to see people such as Jackson and Sharpton become wealthy simply from promoting controversy. The media is also far less than honest by using a picture of the victim when he was 12 years old to attempt to evoke more sympathy for him. This is a play they have used repeatedly in the past to attempt to influence public opinion. I believe we should all wait for the facts before rushing to judgment and send the “race baiters” packing.
Until next week, Doc.
A Final Look at the Basketball Season
Posted by: | CommentsHello to my legion of loyal readers. In the immortal words of U.S. gymnast Coach Bela Karolyi, “UConn do it!” Yes, I know it’s weak. I was hoping to say, “The Butler did it,” but it didn’t work out that way. This definitely was the most ragged final four I have ever witnessed. This year was definitely different. Most years at least 1-2 teams coast into the last weekend on talent. This year it seems all four got there strictly on determination with some luck thrown in. It also seems to me that the selected venue played in UConn’s hands by being a hard place in which to shoot well. For a strictly interior defensive team, this was a perfect setup for UConn. This appears to be a formula that works for UConn by always having a big, defensive center. I fervently hope that the NBA labor negotiations include making players stay in school 2-3 years. One and done needs to be done.
UK may have all the talent in the world coming in next year, but who is going to set screens, guard opposing offensive hulking centers, and throw their weight around? UK will severely miss JHORTS. I haven’t seen a team win a championship yet without inside muscle, although Calipari never recruits any. In place of UK, I thought I was watching Memphis play against UConn—too many three attempts, no inside play, and poor free throw shooting. I hope it’s not a harbinger of things to come.
My only comment about the women’s tourney is that, sadly, they seem to be moving the same direction as the men’s game—a reliance on muscle and quickness at the expense of good passing and solid shooting.
Until next week, Doc.
Any honest officials out there?
Posted by: | CommentsTo my body of loyal readers. Time to update the big tourney. My brackets were shot down early. The Big Least ruined my brackets. When will the committee and I learn that Pitt always flames out? So do teams that overachieve during the regular season. Teams with talent show it in the post season but not always in the regular season. I still like my pick of Kansas to win it all. The old school talent again rose to the top as the ACC leads with three teams remaining. Journalists are still trying to defend eleven teams from the Big Least but a lot is predicated on thinking those teams are better to begin with, therefore your RPI goes up every time they play each other—a fallacy of reasoning.
Do we have any honest officials anymore? First, we find out that Judy Green is giving all dentists a bad name by not paying her property taxes, IRS taxes, and cheating the government out of $350,000 in student loans. Then it was revealed she paid members of her family with city funds. Now this week it is reported that 90% of the discretionary funds controlled by Metro Council members have no expense reports accounting for the money. Is this any way to run a city? It was also reported that three members of the MSD board have done city business with their own companies for work not put up for bids. One member has done over $500,000 in business with his own company. Where is the ethics? Our new mayor has his work cut out for him.
P.S. I will never understand people who know nothing about what is going on in government, the economy, or foreign affairs; but care deeply what happens on “The Bachelor” or “Dancing with the Stars.”
Until next week, take care. Doc
NCAA Tournament Talk
Posted by: | CommentsHello again to my throng of loyal readers. Since this is Kentucky, the NCAA Tournament is item #1 this week. It seems that the NCAA hierarchy has snubbed Kentucky teams once again. Even though they are in the top 10 RPI and rankings, UK was stuck with a #4 seed. The committee is never going to give UK or John Calipari a break. Kentucky is not a media darling like the Big East teams and the NCAA hates Calilpari for being successful with one and done non-academic players. It goes against their vision of “student-athletes.” This is hypocrisy. If players at other schools were good enough, they would leave early, too. UL also got snubbed this year. After finishing second in the conference tourney and third in the regular season, four teams in their conference received higher seeds. I believe the committee ignored actual performance and went with the perception that UL over-achieved. In spite of this, I wish both teams much success. In my bracket, I have Kansas coming out on top. I believe they will be strongly motivated after last year’s flop.
With summer coming, it means road repair season once again. It appears the Shelbyville Rd-Gene Snyder interchange will be torn up once again. Couldn’t this have been done last year when Gene Snyder was being repaired in the area? This is another example of tax dollars being wasted due to poor foresight by our so-called leaders. No planning ahead. Not to mention the wasted time and gas by drivers. When will we start demanding better?
Until next week, take care. Doc
