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NCAA Tournament, Final Game, Day 10 open thread
2008-04-07 14:44
by Bob Timmermann

And so here we are: Kansas vs Memphis for the national championship in San Antonio, tipping off at 6:21 pm. (I get to watch starting at 3:21 pm!).

I would write more, but I have composed this by BlackBerry, an inefficient mode for typing a lot. Or accurately.

The big battle tonight is for the Bracket contest. If the Jayhawks win, Ham Fighter Nation takes the prize. If the Tigers win, Bama Yankee takes the prize. The prizes won't be sent out until I get back home, but the sidebar will be changed as soon as I possibly can.

Expect Billy Packer to say "MOP" a lot tonight. And he'll point out that the team behind is running its offense wrong.

Remember, only one team gets to finish its a season with a win, the NCAA champ. That team and the NIT champ (Ohio State) and the CBI champ (Tulsa) and some teams in the Ivy League.

 

Comments (76)
Show/Hide Comments 1-50
2008-04-07 15:11:03
1.   Andrew Shimmin
Last call for concessions! It's not too late to just give up, Bama Yankee (and Marty, too, since he'd finish one point ahead of me if Memphis wins). Think about it. . .

Also, no matter which team wins tonight, I'll have picked the winner of more games during this tournament than anyone else. Which, if you really think about it, is the way this game should be scored, isn't it? I mean, if I picked 49 winners, and Bama Yankee only picked 47, is it really fair to give him the prize?

2008-04-07 15:28:51
2.   underdog
Go Memphis! Baby needs a new pair of shoes, or cleats.

(Have Memphis going all the way in two of my pools, but in only one of them - not the Toaster one - do I actually win it all if they win. Woo hoo! Which means Kansas will win of course.)

2008-04-07 15:32:13
3.   bhsportsguy
1 Who cares, no one looks at the sidebar on this site anyways.
2008-04-07 15:38:02
4.   Andrew Shimmin
3- You're right, those grapes do look sour.
2008-04-07 16:03:41
5.   Daniel Zappala
I will only concede defeat if you have beaten me in the ESPN contest. I have one bracket that is in the 99.7th percentile.
2008-04-07 16:25:08
6.   Eric Enders
"That team and the NIT champ (Ohio State) and the CBI champ (Tulsa) and some teams in the Ivy League."

Also independents. And some teams from conferences like the Big East where not every team makes the conference tournament.

2008-04-07 16:26:48
7.   Suffering Bruin
5 That's amazing.

I say again--seeing your name on the sidebar is very, very cool. I'll miss it.

I'm hearing that Billy Packer might be calling his last final four? God doesn't like me that much, does he?

2008-04-07 16:38:44
8.   Eric Enders
My name used to be on the sidebar. Not in quite as big a font as SB's, though. Whatever happened to those Where in the World contests, anyway?
2008-04-07 16:39:48
9.   Marty
I have a chance for second? What does second get me?
2008-04-07 16:47:47
10.   Eric Enders
I think I have a chance for second too (I'm Pomeroyanian). Man. SO close to an Oregon State t-shirt.
2008-04-07 17:24:28
11.   Andrew Shimmin
Hey look! A new picture of rocks and water.
2008-04-07 17:44:47
12.   Suffering Bruin
3 Ouch.

When UCLA was beaten by Memphis, Billy Packer said ad nauseam that the Bruins were really hurting themselves by not getting the ball into Kevin Love. I got complaints from my neighbors because I was shouting at the television, "They're trying! Memphis is playing great defense!"

I bring this up because there is Packer--a pompous blowhard who never, ever was a head coach in his life--and there is this analysis from Phil Jackson in today's LAT.

"I felt sorry for Ben [Howland] because he couldn't get the ball in to [Kevin] Love at all," Jackson said. "They just kept fronting him and putting a defender behind him so he couldn't get the ball inside. That changed UCLA's game a lot."

2008-04-07 17:50:45
13.   Eric Enders
The thing is, Packer actually does know a lot about basketball. His four main problems are:

1) A single-minded obsession with the ACC.
2) An inablility to consider that he might be wrong about anything. Ever. Or that there might be a legitimate point of view other than his.
3) He's an insufferable, pompous a-hole and doesn't care who knows it.
4) He has zero sense of humor and seems to resent those who do.

Other than that, he's terrific.

2008-04-07 17:50:52
14.   Bob Timmermann
I am your rocks and water guy.
2008-04-07 17:55:14
15.   Bob Timmermann
Packer also doesn't think much of women who play sports.

Will Packer congratulate Dick Vitale for getting inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame? What other announcers have been inducted beside Chick Hearn and Curt Gowdy? Is Gowdy a member?

2008-04-07 18:07:53
16.   Hallux Valgus
when I was picking my bracket winners, I remember thinking, "man, I could pick Memphis/ Kansas in the final, would be a great game to watch."

So, even though I stink at picking winners, I'm still pretty pleased with the outcome. Mostly because I was already aware that I stink at picking winners.

2008-04-07 18:08:52
17.   Hallux Valgus
16 ugh. "I WISH I could... BECAUSE IT..."
2008-04-07 18:14:03
18.   Humma Kavula
If Memphis wins, I will come in fifth.

This despite me picking USC and Duke to be in the final four.

If only I'd picked the teams that everyone else picked! I'd have an Oregon State T-Shirt locked up!

2008-04-07 18:20:56
19.   Bob Timmermann
Since I rarely have seen the start of an NCAA tournament final, when did they stop introducing players in alternating fashion?
2008-04-07 18:21:24
20.   Hallux Valgus
wow, I never realized how young Russell Robinson looks. He looks like the little kid on Human Giant.
2008-04-07 18:26:05
21.   Bob Timmermann
For the record, Memphis is nowhere close to my Top 10 of NCAA finalists I've disliked.
I think there are four Duke teams and two Florida squads on the list.

And it wasn't the Andrew LeClerq Gators either.

2008-04-07 18:29:37
22.   Hallux Valgus
I'm kind of hoping Kansas wins, and then Bill Self bolts for Stillwater and his giant burlap sack full of Boone Pickens money. And yes, I fully expect there to be a burlap sack at the press conference. Preferably with a big dollar sign and cash overflowing from the top.
2008-04-07 18:34:46
23.   Bob Timmermann
Presently, Oklahoma State and Kansas have the same number of national championships in basketball.

Oklahoma State has been waiting a while.

2008-04-07 18:49:38
24.   Bob Timmermann
Is there a difference between a tall player and a long player?
2008-04-07 18:50:02
25.   oshea2002
21 - it's too bad those vaunted Dwayne Schnitzus teams never made the Final 4.

I'd love to see both these coaches bolt - Self for T. Boone and all his coin, Cal to the Knicks.

2008-04-07 18:51:42
26.   Hallux Valgus
24 There is, but I'm too much of a classy gentleman to describe that difference in mixed company.
2008-04-07 18:52:52
27.   Hallux Valgus
actually, I was under the impression that "length" had more to do with arms. Also referred to as "wingspan" for some stupid reason.
2008-04-07 18:59:31
28.   Bob Timmermann
Would John McLendon approve of this game?
2008-04-07 19:12:00
29.   Hallux Valgus
if this game isn't big enough for you, the Powerade Intramural Championship is on CBS College Sports Chanel. Texas State fell to Texas, while Houston beat North Texas in the final four. So now it's Texas vs. Houston. The game is in San Antonio. Something tells me this isn't exactly a nation wide competition.
2008-04-07 19:13:45
30.   Hallux Valgus
apparently, Iowa, Georgia Tech, Trinity, and UCLA's intramural champs were eliminated yesterday, which ruined my joke. Thanks, jerks
2008-04-07 19:30:24
31.   underdog
So is there a prize for finishing 8th? I think I finish 8th if Memphis wins. Do I get a tootsie pop or something?

More importantly, if Memphis wins, I get a good amount of money from another pool I was in.

Hey is there anyone else in the Bay Area having trouble getting CBS via Comcast? (Channel 5 here) It's been choppy and blurry all game and of course channels 1-4, 6-600 are fine.

2008-04-07 19:40:30
32.   Hallux Valgus
this is exactly the kind of game I expected. It is thoroughly enjoyable.

Except for the crowd noise. I now hate the Final Four for being played in a football stadium. This should be the most charged atmosphere of the year, but instead it feels like they're playing with the sports equivalent of a laugh track.

2008-04-07 19:49:10
33.   Bob Timmermann
I believe next year's Final Four will be at Ford Field.
2008-04-07 19:53:35
34.   Hallux Valgus
I'm almost positive that you are correct. They had games there this year, and in Houston, and I found them equally displeasing. I wish that the NCAA weren't such money grubbing whores that they could actually deign to play basketball in basketball arenas.
2008-04-07 19:58:13
35.   Bob Timmermann
I don't believe an oncampus arena has hosted a Final Four since 1984 at Lexington.
2008-04-07 19:59:08
36.   Suffering Bruin
I'd like to point out that it took Billy Packer three Memphis possessions to realize Kansas was playing a box and one.

This comment has nothing to do with how much I despise Packer, nothing at all.

2008-04-07 20:01:58
37.   Hallux Valgus
35 But they used to be played in regular basketball arenas. I went to the UNLV/ Duke- Kansas/ North Carolina Final Four in Denver in 91 (the Hank Gathers tourney). That's all I'm asking for.

And I still hate Christian Laettner.

2008-04-07 20:04:00
38.   Hallux Valgus
Rose looks like he's about to take this game over.
2008-04-07 20:05:01
39.   Bob Timmermann
Packer should know that "Southern Cal" is verboten by the good folks at Jefferson and Figueroa.
2008-04-07 20:07:41
40.   Bob Timmermann
This is reminding me of the Duke vs unnameds final.
2008-04-07 20:09:08
41.   Bob Timmermann
So if Memphis wins, do they replace Florida as the latest "Greatest College Team Ever."?
2008-04-07 20:11:50
42.   Hallux Valgus
no way. Florida had a good story and a cute nickname and stupid Jo Noah Hair. No one from Memphis (or Kansas) would attend the draft in a seersucker suit.
2008-04-07 20:13:57
43.   Bob Timmermann
Joakim Noah needs to formally apologize for that suit.
2008-04-07 20:19:24
44.   Hallux Valgus
I am convinced that Billy Packer is the Joe Morgan of college basketball.
2008-04-07 20:23:31
45.   dianagramr
Who is the Dick Vitale of baseball?
2008-04-07 20:24:03
46.   Hallux Valgus
Rally Monkey
2008-04-07 20:24:43
47.   dianagramr
CDR has a sea scroll on his left arm?
2008-04-07 20:25:16
48.   Bob Timmermann
Rick Sutcliffe can be Dick Vitale-like.
2008-04-07 20:28:41
49.   trainwreck
I was that close to believing in karma.

That close.

2008-04-07 20:29:02
50.   Bob Timmermann
Memphis has tried to give it away, but Kansas has declined the offer.
Show/Hide Comments 51-100
2008-04-07 20:29:35
51.   trainwreck
45
Hawk Harrelson.
2008-04-07 20:29:36
52.   Hallux Valgus
47 that's the answer sheet to Econ 204
2008-04-07 20:30:59
53.   Hallux Valgus
THAT WAS AWESOME!
2008-04-07 20:31:03
54.   Daniel Zappala
That was an amazing shot! The free throw shooting finally bit Memphis.
2008-04-07 20:31:15
55.   trainwreck
Maybe I will have to believe in karma.
2008-04-07 20:31:17
56.   Bob Timmermann
Free basketball in San Antonio!
2008-04-07 20:31:33
57.   Daniel Zappala
Very lucky they didn't lose the ball at the end there.
2008-04-07 20:32:57
58.   dianagramr
they should just share the title .... its the kindler, gentler thing to do ... its the kind of thing that we as Americans need to show the rest of the world .... that we aren't overbearing know-it-alls?
2008-04-07 20:33:31
59.   Bob Timmermann
Timmermann's law of college overtimes:
First team to lead by four or more wins!

In the last OT championship, the unnameds won without making a FG.

2008-04-07 20:34:23
60.   dianagramr
odd to be calling a timeout that early in ot?
2008-04-07 20:35:40
61.   Bob Timmermann
Memphis had four to start with.
2008-04-07 20:36:56
62.   dianagramr
kansas knows what its like to be in ot in a championship game .... because they were in one in 1957????!!!!

thanks billy!

(shrug)

2008-04-07 20:37:00
63.   trainwreck
Timmermann's Law!
2008-04-07 20:39:35
64.   Bob Timmermann
The ghost of Wilt Chamberlain is advising Kansas on this game. Perhaps Wilt was giving Memphis free throw tips.
2008-04-07 20:45:29
65.   trainwreck
Calipari, you are the team that can't shoot free throws. What a moron.
2008-04-07 20:46:17
66.   trainwreck
It's a scrum!
2008-04-07 20:47:06
67.   dianagramr
First down, Kansas.
2008-04-07 20:51:06
68.   trainwreck
John Calipari not a championship winning coach.

At least, there is one thing still right in this world.

2008-04-07 20:53:07
69.   dianagramr
still a darn good game!
2008-04-07 20:53:56
70.   Suffering Bruin
Ham Fighter Nation.

On the sidebar for a year. Congratulations.

2008-04-07 20:54:32
71.   Hallux Valgus
great game! sorry, underdog.
2008-04-07 21:10:21
72.   Hallux Valgus
I am amazed that there is an official ladder of the NCAA Championships. Amazed, but not surprised. Go sponsors!
2008-04-07 21:48:09
73.   underdog
{cry} That was a great game, though. If I forget about the money that flew out the window.
2008-04-07 22:00:53
74.   Daniel Zappala
How much, exactly? I'm curious.
2008-04-07 22:14:13
75.   ToyCannon
Mr. Brock, tell us again when exactly Kansas will fold?
2008-04-07 23:12:46
76.   underdog
74 I would've split it with my dad since we shared two sheets in a pool for the school district he consults for. $10 each, X 25 people = 250. Which I'd already spent mentally in my head.

Ah well. At least I had a shot in this one. Last year I entered a pool which had about 700 people in it, I did farely well and still didn't finish in top 50. Forget that.

Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.