Big Game Tonight - A Prediction

Tonight the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship will be decided when the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Connecticut Huskies. 

The UConn story is kind of amazing to me.  When last we looked, legendary coach Jim Calhoun was "retiring" under a cloud of academic improprieties that led to the team being put on NCAA probation.  Further, when various conference realignments forced the Big East to return to it's basketball only, Catholic school roots, Connecticut seemed to be still standing when all the music stopped playing, and sort of disappeared from the Big Times College Hoops scene, at least from my vantage point. And now here they are, a number seven seed playing for the National Championship.

The team they will play, John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats seem to have an equally improbable story.  National Champs in 2012, they failed to even qualify for the big tournament last year, returned with another bunch of potential one-and-done blue chippers this year and started the season with mixed results.  They made the tournament this year as a number eight seed.  

I have no horse in this race, no chance to win any money in any pool that I entered, so what I am really rooting for tonight is a good game.  If forced to root for someone, I would choose Kentucky because I kind of like Coach Cal, despite his reputation for sailing near the wind on several occasions.  Still, if you want a prediction, I am going to choose Connecticut as the winner tonight.  Kentucky probably has more talented players, but in watching both semi-final games on Saturday, Connecticut seemed to me to be a better team.

As always, watch but don't bet.

It could also be a very special year in Storrs, CT, as the UConn women will play for the national title tomorrow night against Notre Dame.  Both teams are undefeated, and that one should be a treat to watch.

Enjoy the game!

Kentucky Scores for Yours Truly

It was an exciting night at the Village Drive watching Kentucky defeat Kansas for the 2012 NCAA Basketball Championship.  Yes, Moon Township's own John Calipari finally got his national championship.  Yes, it was exciting to see Anthony Davis play.  That kid is really, really good.  An honest-to-God GREAT college basketball player.  And, yes, it's nice that this is finally all over and we won't have to hear Clark Kellogg call a basketball "the pumpkin" anymore.  But the real news coming out of last night is this....

I won the NCAA March Madness bracket pool that I was in!!!!!!

Yes, after entering these things for I don't know how many years, and never even coming close, to actually win one of these things is a real thrill.  An unbelievable thrill.  The pride in finishing first among 57 entrants is almost worth more than the prize money, although I DO plan on accepting the winner's share.  I am figuring that this money should finance my greens fees deep into the summer this golf season.

Many thanks to good buddy John Frissora who has run this March Madness pool for over 20 years.  It is an honor to win an FGE event.

Also, thanks go out to John's Moon Township boyhood pal, who helped to make this possible...

Tigers and 'Cats and Jayhawks (?)...Oh, My

Not sure how you apportioned your TV viewing time this afternoon, but most of my attention was on NBC watching Tiger Woods win his first PGA Tour event in 934 days. Did the guys at NBC bring up that 934 day number enough for you? Since the revelation of Woods' now well-publicized feet of clay, it is quite fashionable to knock him and have people tell you what a scuzzball he is and blame him for everything from poor on-course behaviour, spitting too much, global warming, $4 per gallon gasoline, and inverse fluctuations in the stock market. I, however, have always been rooting for him to find the magic once again on the golf course and start winning. Golf is a lot more interesting when Tiger is in the hunt and winning.

Well, he did that in most convincing fashion today - a five shot margin over second place finisher Graeme McDowell. One most interesting stat from today, and I think I heard this correctly from the boys in the booth, was that of the final 14 golfers, Woods was the only one to shoot under par in today's fourth round. That's impressive.

That was Tiger's 72nd official PGA Tour win. The record for Tour wins is 82, held by Sam Snead. Here's a question to ponder: at age 36, which record is Tiger most likely to break, Snead's 82 career wins, or Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors (Tiger has 14)? I was beginning to think that both records were becoming out of reach for Woods, but after today, I think Snead's record is well within his grasp, and probably more likely to fall than Jack's 18 Majors. However, if Woods wins one this year, and right now he's got to be the favorite at Augusta in two weeks, Jack's record comes into play once more.

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I began the afternoon by watching Kentucky wallop Baylor (the Bears, Oh my!). That one was so out of reach so early, that staying with the golf at Bay Hill was easy to do. The Wildcats sure do look impressive. Make that Very Impressive.

I was also glad to see Kansas advance. Not that it helps me all that much in my FGE Bracket Pool, but Kentucky and Kansas are my two Universities in the MOASP, and if they both happen to meet in the Championship Game, I will have a big leg up on securing the coveted Lamp of Knowledge Trophy for 2012.

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It will be interesting to see the TV ratings for this afternoon. A Kentucky blowout and a golf tournament with Tiger Woods in the lead surely ate into what CBS thought they would score for this afternoon.

Oh, and by the way and for what it's worth, I didn't see Woods spit once on the golf course today.