I Think Spring's Here

Despite accumulating snow Monday morning, the weather has warmed and I think spring has made it to Michigan. Fall ends here in early November and Winter follows until about now. I like it that daylight savings is earlier, I didn't have many clock issues. But anyway, I've been able to drive home with the window down, which is exciting. What wasn't exciting was the 20 minutes I spent in the bank drive-thru window this morning, which was followed by the disappointment of the driving range being closed!!!! I was all excited to use my new Taylor Mades for the first time, but no, even the driving range with mats is closed until April 1.

Last year, it was Kelly Clarkson who could be heard on every sort of radio station. This year, it isn't one artist, but one particular song. Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right" I think it's called. But I've heard this on radio stations that play everything from rap to R&B to top 20 (we know it's top 20 not top 40) to 70s/80s/90s/today mix to stations that play Delilah or John Tesh in the evening. Driving back to Ohio last weekend, I heard this song 4 times in a 30 minute span. Now don't get me wrong, whenver Nelly Furtado comes on, I have nice images of her backin it up, but I prefer a little variety in my music.

You know I don't like to talk politics, but how about the joke of a bill the House passed that is ending the war in Iraq, but isn't really ending it? And all that talk from the Democrats back in campaign season about ending earmarks on bills. Well, on this particular bill there were at least $20 billion in earmarks.

Well my bracket is still in play, surprise surprise. 25-7 in the 1st round, 11-5 in the 2nd, 5-3 in the 3rd, and 1-1 so far in the regional finals with Florida and Georgetown, my two finalists in play tomorrow. If Texas A&M got 1 rebound off those Memphis misses and Tennessee hadn't blown a 17 point halftime lead, I could be doing some serious damage. But anyway, it's been another good tournament, here are some thoughts:

• First, what a great effort by Miami vs. Oregon. You probably didn't get to see it as it was the 5pm eastern game Friday, which is only available to local areas. Miami took Oregon's best 2 punches, 1 in each half, and were a 3 point shot from sending the game to overtime. If you haven't noticed, Oregon hasn't been seriously challenged since, except for the last minute vs. UNLV. Miami has a lot coming back next year, plus a great recruiting class and will probably be preseason favorites to win the MAC. Great job Redhawks!!!!
• It has turned out the committee did a great job of seeding, as evidenced by the lack of upsets. From the 2nd round on, every game has been great to watch.
• The Big 10 redeemed itself and showed some strength by going 5-1 in the 1st round (6-0 if Illinois didn't choke) and being competitive throughout the tournament. Michigan St. just ran out of gas vs. North Carolina and Purdue took Florida to the limit.
• I thought the best basketball of the year was played in the Pac 10 and it's showed. UCLA is in the Final 4, Oregon gets their chance tomorrow, USC ran out of gas vs. Carolina but played well, and Washington St. should've at least made the Sweet 16, failing to put away Vanderbilt.
• Do you want some reasons why the tournament shouldn't be expanded? I'll give you some: Stanford, Arkansas, and even Old Dominion weren't very competitive in their respective games and they were among the last at-large teams in.
• I wonder if any of the people, including the pundits, who picked Oral Roberts to beat Washington St. even saw them play. Oral Roberts essentially has 2 guys who can score and that's it. Not a recipe for an upset.
• How many lives does Ohio St. have left? First, I don't think Greg Oden's foul at the end of the Xavier game was intentional. Justin Cage has to hit those free throws and Xavier should've fouled after the miss. Second, Thad Matta hasn't exactly put on a coaching clinic this tournament, but his teams are resilient and always have a spurt in them. The Buckeyes are playing some of their best basketball of the season right now. Ron Lewis is really playing well and David Lighty had a great regional at both ends of the floor. He's starting to steal minutes from Daquean Cook. Mike Conley continues to be amazing with the ball in his hands. Oden though was the difference today vs. Memphis. Memphis had the tempo in their favor, but when Oden returned after picking up his 3rd foul, his presence made it enough of a half-court game that Memphis became uncomfortable and the tempo became more favorable to Ohio St. Ohio St. caught a break by not having to play Texas A&M in San Antonio. I think if you're an OSU fan, you want to see N. Carolina beat Georgetown tomorrow. OSU doesn't match up well with Georgetown as the Hoyas are just as quick and more physical at basically every position. Georgetown also handled the Buckeyes in last year's tournament with relative ease.
• I was pretty confident UCLA would beat Kansas, which is why I took them. Kansas was playing "so well" according to the experts. But look at who they played. The Big 12 wasn't exactly a great conference, especially the Big 12 north. Niagara can't play defense, Kentucky can't beat anybody good, and SIU just didn't finish enough plays. But UCLA is tougher, stronger, and more experienced, and all that came through today. Kansas controlled the game for most of the 1st half, yet they were only up 4-6 points, despite all of UCLA's turnovers. Once UCLA stopped throwing the ball away, they took it to Kansas offensively, which got their defense going. Kansas wilted, missing a lot of close-in shots simply because they're not tough enough, physically or mentally, and that was their story all year. Suddenly a possible UCLA/Florida rematch has all the makings of a certain Duke/UNLV game 16 years ago. Look at all the similarities: UNLV and Florida won in dominating fashion and had essentially the same players coming back for a try at a repeat, but had to face the runner-up in the Final 4. No one gave Duke a shot vs. UNLV in their rematch and basically the same was said if UCLA and Florida were to cross paths in the Final 4.
• Florida/Oregon is an intriguing matchup. Florida has the size advantage, but Oregon's guards have more talent. But that doesn't mean they'll outplay Florida's guards. Tajuan Porter had a big game vs. UNLV, can he produce against Green tomorrow? Who is Lee Humphrey going to guard? He can't possibly stay with Aaron Brooks. That assignment will probably go to Corey Brewer, leaving Humphrey with Bryce Taylor, but he's no slouch offensively either. If this is a half-court game, which I have to believe Florida will try and make it, the Gators will win. The Gators can play at any pace, but Oregon only has a chance if the pace is quicker. Florida needs to try and match their opponent's intensity at the start. The Gators are ready to play, but their opponent is more fired up because they're playing the defending champs, which is why Florida has been falling behind. Florida can't afford to do that from now on.
• Carolina/Georgetown could be a classic. The way to beat Carolina is to turn them into a jump shooting team, which Michigan St. and USC did for about 30 minutes. But neither the Spartans and Trojans could match Carolina's depth, allowing Carolina to pull away at the end of each game. That won't happen with Georgetown. Carolina will have to make 3s to soften up the Hoya D. The key for Georgetown will be their ability to make shots, but more importantly take care of the ball. I think Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert can have big games for Georgetown, if they get the ball in places where they can be effective. If this game is tight, you have to like Georgetown's experience also. The crowd will be pro-Georgetown also, so that will help them as well. Carolina can't have Tyler Hansbrough get in foul trouble, the Heels must have him in a half-court game.

And another disappointment for the Duke women, losing to Rutgers in Greensboro after Lindsey Harding missed 2 free throws that could've won the game (1 would've sent it to OT). I caught the 2nd half and Duke was severly outcoached. Rutgers' pressure D and ball-control offense took Duke out of their game and made their team, with the exception of Allison Bales, tighten up. Duke's coach had a stunned and concerned look on her face throughout the 2nd half, a look you don't want to have in a tournament game.

Congratulations to Miami hockey. They upset top-seeded New Hampshire up in Manchester 2-1 to win their first ever NCAA hockey tournament game. Their reward: a chance to avenge last year's tournament loss to Boston College in the regional finals tomorrow.

I think I'm going to stay up and watch Peyton Manning on SNL, it could be funny.