Congrats to our very own MCA
What a game...what a tournament. MCA's Duke Blue Devils may go down in history as winning the last "real" NCAA tournament, as reports are indicating that the NCAA will likely expand the tourney to 96 teams next year. What a shame. If ever there was a perfect tournament...this was it. There were buzzer-beaters, cindarellas, huge upsets, Davids beating Goliath...etc. In the end, order was restored as the big, bad Blue Devils beat Butler in a CLASSIC championship game. The two teams were never further than six points apart, and the game was decided on a missed fadeaway jumper with 5 seconds left...and then again on a nearly-made half-court shot at the buzzer.
I guess one of the things that has been most enlightening for me during this season's tournament (again, maybe the last of its vintage) is realizing that a veteran squad with juniors and seniors that have played together for several years can beat anyone, regardless of conference affiliation and size. See Northern Iowa. See Cornell. See Duke, actually (3 seniors and 2 juniors in the starting five, I believe). In contrast, see Kentucky and Kansas. Too many one-and-done players = potential to choke in a close post-season game. As long as there is no real roadblock to jumping to the NBA, parity will be the order of the day in college hoops.
A couple of other thoughts:
1) People need to get over the Big East. It is the biggest conference (16 teams) and its schools are in the biggest media markets. As a result, every team and coach gets the Brett Favre treatment. Yes, there are some good teams, but as we saw this year, the conference is generally overrated.
2) The ACC wasn't as deep as usual, but this makes two champions in a row. I'm sure MCA hopes that Duke avoids the UNC fate next year (NIT).
3) The Big Ten put up a respectable showing. Three teams in the sweet 16, one team in the final four. Not bad. I don't love Michigan State, but I do have a bit of a man-crush on Tom Izzo.
4) Finally, how do guys like Gordon Hayward and Ali Farokmanesh fly under the radar of the big schools? I'm simply amazed every year...apparently Hayward did get recruited by Purdue, but what happened? Maybe he wanted to go to Butler...who knows.
Mijares serving up back-to-back jacks...not good. Call to discuss.
2 Comments:
BG, thanks, man. So many thoughts today:
1. SUCK IT, HATERS. I spent a number of years sort of sheepishly following my team, thinking "Yeah, maybe we are a little spoiled and overexposed and obnoxious." Well, I'm done apologizing for being a Duke fan and rooting for a program that does it right and wins all the same. This fourth ring is for the middle finger. Fuck off, Stuart Scott. Scott Van Pelt? Gregg Doyel? Eat it, bitches. I hope you enjoy your petty little jabs, and not-so-subtle implications that every victory is due to missed calls and conspiracies, and lending mainstream credibility to your irrational, small-minded loathing of us. Losers.
2a. All that said, I don't, however, get much pleasure from beating the lineup of (G) Mike Eruzione, (G) Luke Skywalker, (F) Jimmy Chitwood, (F) David, and (C) The Ghost of George Mason, coached by Jesus, for the title. Hell of a game, and Butler's a hell of a team that played their hearts out and was every bit as deserving as Duke. I told Mrs. MCA after the game that I really wouldn't have been that upset if that shot had gone in.
2b. If Duke goes outside the family tree whenever Krzyzewski retires (and I have no problem with doing so), they could do worse than to go after 2 of the coaches he beat in this year's tourney - Stevens and Bryce. I've never come out of an NCAA so impressed with not one, but two, opposing programs and their coaches.
3. Totally agree on the parity issue. No one seemed to remember come the Final Four that Butler wasn't even Cinderella. They hovered around the Top 10 the whole damned season. Gonzaga's still around, too. My thoery, to go along with the obvious implications of one-and-done reliant teams among traditional powers (meaning that, in addition to their consistent shitting of pants in high leverage situations, a la Kentucky this year and Memphis two years ago, programs go from legit contender to non-tourney team every other year), is one of demographics. A lot (a LOT) more 18 year-olds now than 30 years ago + No more BCS schools than 30 years ago = more talent to non-power conference teams.
4. No doubt on the Big East. Tournament performance is a very, very limited sample size, and usually I don't put any stock in it as a measure of a league's power throughout a season. But when your much-ballyhooed teams are lucky to beat Robert Morris and losing to Washington and ODU and getting pasted by (not The) fucking Ohio University and Saint MAry's, and then your red-hot, "they got screwed out of a 1-seed by Duke" conference champion gets their PBA-haircut, Bada-Bing wannabe-warmup-suit, headband-pushed-so-high-it-doesn't-actually catch-forehead-sweat-and-makes-the-top-of-your-head-look-like-a-goddamned-condom- wearing asses handed to them, by Duke, you've got an overrated issue.
5. As much as I pull for and brag about the ACC - and that is 5 titles this decade and 10 in the last 28 years - we've got a balance problem. Duke and Carolina runs have glossed over the fact that the rest of the league's had only 5 or 6 other Sweet 16 placements in the last 5 years. We've become too topheavy and need GT, Wake, Maryland, Clemson, somebody to step up and represent in the postseason.
April 6, 2010 at 7:11 PM
MCA congrats. I rode your team to a modest sized NCAA pool victory. A very good post season for Gamblor as I also won the office NIT pool as well.
April 7, 2010 at 8:58 AM
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