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and Wisconsin beat Kansas State
and Kansas State beat Kansas,
then maybe...

Okay, wishful thinking. Speaking of wishful thinking, my own bracket hopes rest pretty solidly on the shoulders of Memphis (not, as Billy Hack Packer called them multiple times, Memphis State). If they win out, I have a shot. If not, oh well.

I did want to give a shout-out, though, to the talking head (Mariotti, maybe) who, yesterday, explained that Davidson had no shot because we live in a "post George Mason world." Apparently, two years ago, top seeds didn't have to scout their opponents or game-plan, but now they do. Oh, and two years ago, teamwork and talent had an impact on the outcome of the game, but now they don't. Just so's you know.

Two picks that I was especially proud of this year are both going to be put to the test today. The first was that I picked West Virginia to beat Duke, and the second was K State over Wisconsin. The first has just come to pass, and the second has just begun.

So yeah, there's a little gloating going on. But mostly, I hope that this puts an end to the stupid "If they get Alexander in foul trouble" analysis that seems to be the only thing that most talking heads know about WVU.

And we should no longer have to listen to how the ACC is a "power" conference. UNC is still a strong team, but the drop off after them is steeper than it's been in some time. For the record, today the 5th place team in the Big East took down the 2nd place ACC squad. And that's a day after the 3rd place ACC squad lost to a team many said shouldn't make the Tournament, 8th place Villanova. I know memories are short in the sportstainment world (except when it comes to ACC homerism), but I hope that someone remembers this next year when time comes to debate the strength of the pack in the Big East.

Oh, Vandy. You came and you played without trying.

(And here I thought, after Thursday, that we were in for chalk, chalk, chalk.)

I haven't been talking much about SU basketball, and no entries here, but it's been a pretty interesting Big East season. Again this year, there's a lot of parity, with Georgetown flirting with the top 10, and a whole bevy of teams nipping at the tail end of the top 25. Syracuse finds itself on the bubble again this year too--they beat Georgetown today in what the Sports Leader is describing as a "mild upset" but they got creamed by cellar dweller South Florida this week (they were helped today by the fact that UConn got taken to the limit by USF, though). With 9 losses, they probably have to win 4 of their next 5 and win at least 1 or maybe 2 games in the Big East tourney to have a legitimate shot.

It's a fun team to watch, and I think next year is going to be even better. They've had season-ending injuries in the backcourt, and are starting and playing mostly first-year players right now, and you can see them learning. Sometimes that learning is painful, but I'm guessing that with next year's recruits added to this mix, SU will probably rip off a string of deep NCAA runs. This year? If they make it, it'll be by the skin of their teeth, and I can't imagine they'd be much higher than an 8 or 9. They're a fun group to watch, but it'll be even more fun once they learn to win consistently.

That's all.

It was not a pretty game by any measure, save perhaps for the Giants' defensive linemen's performance. But I'll say this for Super Bowl XLII: I was on the edge of the couch for most of the 4th quarter, and the game was a live one until the second-to-last tick of the clock.

Once again, I don't think that a Manning deserved to win the MVP. My MVP? Syracuse University's own David Tyree, who:

• caught Manning's first touchdown


• caught Manning's crazy Tarkentonian scrambly hail mary


• and most importantly, Tyree dropped the flutterball that almost got picked off--had he caught it, short of the first down, they would have lost a bunch of time, and had trouble setting up the offense.

I am a little sorry that Merc won't have any company in Perfectville, and I'm even more sorry that Junior Seau didn't get a ring, but it's hard to feel sorry watching the SuperPats catch an elbow to the chops like that.

That's all. See you in the autumn, NFL.

1. Mercury Morris vanishes, maybe forever

2. No more tv/radio spots talking about the Super Bowl without being allowed (I guess) to use the actual phrase Super Bowl™

3. 359 sweet, sweet days until the next Super Bowl Media Monday, where all the B-list media outlets compete with one another to be the most "viral." This year? Congratulations to TV Azteca for being the biggest jackasses of a pretty jackassy bunch

4. No more wondering why the hell the freakin SUPER BOWL needs (a) a red carpet, or (b) Ryan Seacrest to stand on it. I know that FOX is the king of irrelevant and intrusive cross-product advertisement, but isn't American Idol already the most popular show on TV?

5. Hey, those wacky! crazy! Super Bowl commercials!

Last year at this time, I cared, since my Bars made it to the Super Bowl for the first time since I was in high school. But as a result, I think I'm even more cynical this year about how shallow and vapid these 2 weeks leading up to the game actually are. I just have no patience for the fifteenth story about the point spread moving from 13 to 12.5, or Tom Brady's phantom sprain, or Eli Manning's magical transformation from schlub to star in 3-4 games, or worst of all, stories about the repetitiveness of the stories. Ugh. Play the damn game already.

That's all.

I do have a small request.

The other night, I happened to see a bit of the George Mason/VCU game on ESPN, and more power to the Sports Leader for broadcasting it (a) on something other than ESPN U, and (b) in a primetime slot. Seriously, good on them.

But at both ends of the floor on the GMU court, in big letters, was written "Mason Nation." You might recall a few years back that "X Nation" gained some popularity as the Red Sox finally reversed their curse. And honestly, I have no issue with the idea of Red Sox Nation, given how many fans of the BoSox live in other places than Boston. Ditto for Yankees and Cubs. Being myself a member of Cubs Nation, Nation is no exaggeration.

But lately, nation is used to describe the fan base of every team at every level. Did I say "used"? I mean to say overused and abused. Unless we're comparing them to small Caribbean islands, I'm afraid there is no Mason Nation. Nor would it even occur to me to talk about Hawkeye Nation, Bear Nation, Syracuse Nation, Bull Nation, etc.

And actually, given how loosely the term is used now, I'll be stopping with the Cubs Nation after this post. I'm pretty sick of seeing it. Almost as sick as I am of hearing the Dallas Cowboys referred to as "America's Team" 30 years now after the nickname was accurate and/or relevant.

So yeah, you can fill a small arena. This does not you a nation make. Quit it.

The urban legend goes that, each NFL season, when the final unbeaten team has been defeated, the members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins pop the cork on some champagne and toast themselves as the only NFL team to ever go a full season without a loss. It's hard to know whether or not this is the case--the Dolphins themselves deny it, but I can't help but think that they keep the rumor alive just so, every year, they get a little attention from the media.

So this year, seeing as how the Patriots are almost certainly going to do them 2 games better (in 72, the season was 14 games), maybe the Dolphins can go ahead and ship that champagne to the members of the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose record for futility (0-14) the current Dolphins are likewise almost certain to eclipse.

I'm sure I'm not the first (or perhaps even the thousandth) to suggest this. There's just something really striking to me about the same team occupying both tails of the victory bell curve.

And I need something to entertain myself, given that the Patriots have now won as many games as the Bears, Syracuse, and Iowa combined. It's not been an especially me-worthy football season.

That's all.

Oh well. I can now officially begin my personal "Bring A-Rod to Wrigley" campaign, I suppose.

The limited effectiveness of our pitching wasn't really that surprising to me. I think Hill has got a couple of years yet before he's a legit 3rd starter, and I've always been a little iffy with both Lilly and Marquis (who deserved a shot after last year, imo).

What was most disappointing was the dismal situational hitting on display. The DB played like they deserved to be there, and for the most part, the Cubs did not. Neither Davis nor Hernandez is all that intimidating as a pitcher, but the Cubs made them look a lot better than they actually were. If the series had gone on, Lou's decision to lift Z in Game 1 might have been a bigger issue--they played badly enough to make it a footnote.

All in all, though, it was a good season to be a Cubs fan, especially after last year's debacle. And this is a team that should be able to compete annually now.

Yeah, I don't really like that dopey song, but I can agree with the sentiment...