Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 2:48 pm  |  6 responses

Tweet

Wrapping a Crazy Weekend with Rapper

Big Pooh tries to make sense of the Madness. And mourns his bracket.

by Thomas “Pooh” Jones

What a weekend, huh? I don’t know about you, but my bracket is up in smoke. In the words of my good friend Andreas Hale, “My bracket looks like I failed a grade school test.”  I said that I felt Duke would be the first number one seed to bite the dust; wrong! I knew this was an unpredictable year, but look at all of the close games that we had over the weekend. There were upsets, overtimes, crying, injuries, and exactly what March Madness should be—unpredictability. I’m going to keep this one quick but I just wanted to go over a few things I learned this weekend.

—DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE MID MAJOR! How many of you actually had Northern Iowa, St. Mary’s, Butler, and Cornell in the Sweet 16? (I know Cornell is technically an Ivy League school, but I threw them in there anyway)

—Ali Farokhmanesh of Northern Iowa has no conscience. I keep asking myself over and over again what I would have done if I was in that position, and my answer is the same every single time—pull that thing back and work some clock. I salute Ali for playing like an underdog is supposed to play, with nothing to lose. If Northern Iowa would have lost, nobody would have been shocked because they were supposed to—according to everyone outside of their locker room and campus. For all those who like watching fearless basketball, Ali Farokhmanesh and the rest of the Northern Iowa Panthers are a must see.

—Omar Samhan of St. Mary’s is the best big man that most of the country has never heard of. I’m going to be honest with you, I thought St. Mary’s was okay and that their big man was the product of playing in the WCC but he looks like the real deal to me. Omar is one of two players averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds in college basketball this season. I don’t care what league you are in, in college basketball, that’s a major accomplishment.

—Kentucky looks unstoppable so far. I know they have yet to face any adversity or stiff competition but they look like they are on a mission with blinders on. I watched them dismantle that Wake Forest team like the Demon Deacons were a high school squad. I know Cornell is happy to have made it to the Sweet 16, but unless they make shots, it might be another exhibition type game for the Kentucky Wildcats. At least we get to keep seeing Ashley Judd!

—My fifth and final thing I learned over the weekend is that I will not be winning any bracket challenge that I am competing in. I hang my head low in shame. Now, some of these games I would not have ever predicted, but some I got wrong because of poor scouting. I didn’t know Scottie Reynolds of Villanova had been playing terribly since the end of the season and would not even show up against St. Mary’s. I couldn’t have told you that Georgetown would still be feeling the emotional hangover from losing the Big East Tourney a few days before. I would not have believed you if you would have told me that, out of the seven teams the Big East was sending to the tourney, only two would be left standing after the first weekend. There goes that “best conference” label.

All in all, I saw both of my teams bow out of the tourney (MD and Georgetown), and I saw my bracket burn itself. I can’t complain too much at the end of the day. This is the kind of basketball tournament that I have always wanted. Kansas, the world wide favorite by many to win it all got clipped on the first weekend. I love down to the wire basketball. I love not being able to predict the final outcome at the onset. I would love to see a Final Four of teams that none of us gave a chance to ever make it this far competing for a chance to win it all. I declare this the Year Of The Underdog! Lets hope that next weekend provides us with the same, if not greater, amount of excitement as the first.

Rapper Gone.