It's 12:11am, which means........

IT'S MARCH!!!!! BRING ON THE MADNESS!!!!!!!

Opening thoughts: Let me just say, it's great to have March Madness back, because I'm ready!!!! But, before that, let's talk about what happened on The Bachelorette season finale tonight. Jen, the girl who I loved when she was on the Bachelor, had whittled the field down to John Paul and Jerry. During the show, she took both fellas home to meet her family, they met her two girlfriends again, and they had one more night with her. John Paul, by far had everyone's vote of approval, including mine. He grew on me in the last couple of shows as I saw he and I had some things in common. The family loved him, her friends loved him, but when you saw he and her get in the jacuzzi on their last date, you had the feeling it wasn't going to be him. What do ya know, it wasn't. Nice guys again finish last. I don't understand how she couldn't have picked him, he would've treated her like a princess.

So, as the "After The Final Rose" show started, it seemed a forgone certainty that she would pick Jerry, the artificial boy toy who appeared to be on the show for a good time. He didn't win over the family and he didn't win over her friends, because he wasn't prepared to put his heart out (Woos, you've gotta go for it because that's what love is all about). Anyway, at the actual proposal, Jen said she wanted to wait, to "think about it", but obviously, it was to wait for this show. Then, she drops the bomb on Jerry at the reuniting, she doesn't want him anymore. I was in shock. The first thing I thought of was how ABC felt about this. They invested all this time and money into the show, and she got the nice apartment, all the great dates, clothes, publicity, and she ended up not picking anybody. Poor Jerry was shell-shocked, even though Jen said, "I thought we both felt like we should be just friends." As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, that Ohio University education was starting to shine through, and did it ever tonight.

I can't believe I wrote that much about it, anyway, let's talk basketball:

• Pittsburgh 72, Boston College 50. The Panthers righted their ship after losing their last 3 by playing tough defense and finding their offensive rhythm again. Pitt was just bigger and stronger than the Eagles tonight, playing as if their season was on the line. They won the glass 40-26, on the road against a Top 5 team, not exactly easy to do. Pitt put 5 in double figures and shot 48% from the floor, while limiting the Eagles to 31% shooting. For BC, Craig Smith got his, but Jared Dudley didn't, only scoring 4 points on 1/8 shooting. The Panthers are still alive for a 1st round bye in the Big East tourney, while the Eagles lost a chance to clinch the regular season Big East title.
• Oklahoma 74, Texas 58. The Longhorns just didn't have the horses to stay with Oklahoma, who is playing well again. The Sooners won the glass 38-29 and the OU guards played well, balancing the usual contributions from Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout. Texas is now 8-7 in the Big 12 with a trip to Oklahoma St. to finish out the year. Even if they lose that game, if they can win a Big 12 tourney game, I think they've done enough to get in.

My Northmont T-Bolts bowed out in the sectional finals tonight, losing to Centerville 52-34, their 3rd loss to the Elks this year. Still, in a year where not much was expected of them, 14-9 was pretty darn good. Good job boys, next year should be an even better one.

Wow, I guess that's it. Happy March Madness!!!!